President Muhammadu Buhari on Tuesday commended the Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA) and other government agencies on measures taken to rehabilitate victims of terrorism and violent extremism in Nigeria.

Receiving officials of the Countering Violent Extremism (CVE) Department of ONSA, Buhari said the Federal Government would provide necessary assistance to victims of Boko Haram insurgency.

The president also reiterated the determination of his administration to rid the country of terrorism and insurgency. “One of the objectives of the CVE is to reform terrorists and prevent others from joining terrorist groups and violent sects.”

The Head of the CVE, Dr Fatima Akilu, had earlier told Buhari that its non-military approach was running concurrently with the armed onslaught against insurgents in the country.

She said the CVE had so far rehabilitated no fewer than 305 victims of terrorism rescued from Sambisa forest by the Nigerian military.

She said a National Security Corridor Programme had been created to provide safe route for those who wish to denounce Boko Haram sect.

She said 47 erstwhile members of the sect had embraced the programme, adding that no fewer than 22 women and girls, recruited as suicide bombers by Boko haram, were undergoing rehabilitation by the CVE after voluntarily embracing its de-radicalization programme.

Credit: NAN