The Defence Headquarters (DHQ) has defended Operation Safe Corridor (OPSC), describing it as a strategic component of Nigeria’s counter-terrorism framework aimed at reducing insurgency and promoting long-term stability.
The military high command said the initiative is designed to prevent recruitment into terrorist groups, encourage defections, and rehabilitate selected individuals, rather than serve as an act of leniency toward insurgents.
Speaking through the OPSC Coordinator, Brigadier General Yusuf Ali, in an interview with The Nation, the DHQ addressed concerns from critics who view the programme as overly accommodating to former fighters.
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“We understand the concerns of some people, especially those from communities that have suffered deeply, who perceive the programme as being lenient towards former insurgents. These concerns are valid and must be acknowledged with empathy and responsibility. However, let me be very clear: Operation Safe Corridor is not about leniency; it is about national security strategy and, more importantly, it forms part of a broader, structured approach to counterterrorism in Nigeria,” he said.
Ali explained that while military operations continue to apply force against terrorist groups, the programme provides an alternative pathway for disengagement, particularly for individuals who were not ideologically committed to violence.
“While the military continues to apply necessary kinetic pressure on terrorist groups, this programme provides a controlled and structured pathway to disengage individuals from violence, reduce the fighting strength of these groups, and ultimately weaken their operational capacity from within.
“In every conflict, there are different categories of individuals. Not everyone within these groups is a hardened or ideologically committed combatant.
A significant number, based on research and field experience, were coerced, abducted, manipulated, or forced into participation.
Some were children at the time of recruitment, while others were caught in conflict dynamics with very limited choices.
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For such individuals, deradicalisation, rehabilitation, and reintegration are not merely security measures; they also represent a form of restorative justice,” he said.
He warned that scrapping the programme could worsen insecurity by eliminating incentives for surrender.
“If this pathway — Operation Safe Corridor — is removed entirely, many individuals would remain trapped within violent systems with no incentive to surrender. This would prolong the conflict, sustain recruitment pipelines, and increase the burden on kinetic operations.
“By providing a controlled exit, the programme reduces manpower available to these terrorist groups and encourages further defections,” Ali added.
According to him, the initiative is strictly targeted at “low-risk combatants,” offering them a structured process that includes screening, accountability checks, behavioural assessment, and rehabilitation before reintegration into society.
He stressed that the programme is not indiscriminate and clearly separates eligible participants from those who must face prosecution.
“The programme is not a blanket approach. Those assessed as high-risk or have committed prosecutable offences are not simply reintegrated.
“There is a clear distinction between those who must face the justice system and those eligible for rehabilitation based on established criteria,” he said.
Ali added that Operation Safe Corridor aligns with modern counter-insurgency strategies that combine military action with non-kinetic approaches such as rehabilitation and community reintegration.
“It is not about rewarding wrongdoing but about reducing violence, disrupting terrorist recruitment, encouraging surrender, and promoting long-term stability,” he said.
