A Borno State indigene, Enoch Yohanna, has sparked fresh controversy over Nigeria’s deradicalisation programme for former Boko Haram fighters, alleging that some “repentant” insurgents receive payouts of up to ₦3 million and a monthly stipend of ₦50,000 after rehabilitation.

Yohanna, whose father was allegedly killed by Boko Haram, spoke emotionally at a public forum, accusing the Federal Government of rewarding people responsible for mass killings, abductions and the destruction of communities across the North-East.

“My pain is that the assailants who killed my father and carried out mass abductions are being paid with taxpayers’ money,” he said, insisting that victims and their families have been left to struggle with trauma, poverty and displacement while former fighters are allegedly being financially empowered.

His claims focus on Operation Safe Corridor, a Federal Government initiative launched to provide a structured exit route for so‑called “low‑risk” Boko Haram members. The programme is built around deradicalisation, rehabilitation and reintegration, with participants undergoing psychological counselling, vocational training and religious re‑education before being released back into society.

Yohanna alleged that during processing, ex‑fighters are profiled according to the number of people they admit to having killed and the types of weapons they used. He claimed that those who confess to higher levels of violence spend longer in rehabilitation, but ultimately receive larger benefits, including lump‑sum payments and monthly stipends.

He further alleged that some rehabilitated fighters are armed again and absorbed into civilian joint task forces, deployed to security operations in states such as Borno and Zamfara, effectively turning their past involvement in violence into a form of employment. According to him, others who struggle to reintegrate are allegedly sent outside Nigeria to engage in illegal mining activities, with arrangements in place for their medical treatment back home if they are injured.

Yohanna’s testimony highlights a deepening sense of injustice among victims’ families, who argue that the state appears more willing to invest in the futures of former insurgents than in rebuilding shattered lives and communities. His remarks have intensified public debate over whether Nigeria’s deradicalisation strategy, while aimed at ending the conflict, is inadvertently rewarding perpetrators and sidelining those who suffered most from the insurgency.