The Chief of Defence Operations, Major General Emeka Onumajuru, has stated that the Nigerian Armed Forces do not support financial payment to bandits behind the insurgency in the country.
Speaking on Channels Television’s ‘Sunrise Daily’ on Tuesday, Onumajuru said financial payment to criminals does not work, adding that the armed forces have a programme for criminals who have shown remorse.
He disclosed that bandits who want to surrender undergo profiling before being transferred to the programme.
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“The armed forces of Nigeria do not support the payment of money to criminal groups. The armed forces of Nigeria are not part of that arrangement.
“However, the armed forces of Nigeria have a DDR programme with other stakeholders, the Ministry of Justice, and the Office of the National Security Advisor for criminals that have shown remorse and want to toe the line for peace, to surrender their weapons, undergo a thorough profiling to ensure the extent of their culpability, and then they are transferred for the DDR programme,” Onumajuru stated.
“The essence of this national framework is for bandists who clearly want another route to leaving criminality. You surrender your weapons, and you are profiled in detail.
“Those who are found really culpable face the law. Now, this is coordinated by the Ministry of Justice. Don’t forget that some of the people were forcibly conscripted, kept in the bust for God knows why.
“Once it is decided that this set of people is not really culpable after a detailed profiling, they are transferred to the DDR centres in Gombe, and they start going through the DDR process,” he added.
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