Borno Government Says It Has Integrated About 8,000 Ex‑Boko Haram Members and Families Into Society

Reported by: Ijeoma G | Edited by: Oravbiere Osayomore Promise.

The Borno State Government has announced that it has successfully reintegrated approximately 8,000 former Boko Haram insurgents and their families into society, recording what officials describe as a 75 percent success rate in the state’s ambitious rehabilitation programme. The disclosure was made by the Commissioner for Women Affairs and Social Development, Zuwaira Gambo, during a briefing on the progress and challenges of the initiative in Maiduguri on Saturday, May 9, 2026. Gambo said the initiative has become a critical component of the state’s peace‑building and recovery efforts following the mass surrender of insurgents and their families in the North‑East.

According to Gambo, the surrender of thousands of former insurgents created a major humanitarian and security responsibility for the state government, prompting Governor Babagana Umara Zulum to establish structured mechanisms to manage the rehabilitation and reintegration process. “We have integrated about 8,000 or thereabout,” she disclosed. Gambo explained that many of those who surrendered were not directly involved in combat operations but served as logistics suppliers and support personnel within insurgent camps. She noted that the majority of those arriving at the camps were women and children, many of whom came with traumatic experiences, health challenges and little exposure to formal society. “These are women that are coming out with trauma. These are women that may be victims of gender‑based violence. These are women suffering from mental health and psychosocial challenges,” the commissioner said.

To address the situation, the government deployed trained social workers and established temporary learning centres, clinics and skills acquisition centres to support the rehabilitation process. Vulnerable groups, including widows, orphans, elderly persons and persons living with disabilities, were separated for specialised care at interim care centres. After undergoing psychosocial support and rehabilitation, many of them were reunited with their families and communities following consultations with relatives and community leaders.

The Borno State approach, known as the “Borno Model”, differs from the federally‑run Operation Safe Corridor by focusing on community‑centric reintegration rather than isolating ex‑combatants in distant camps. According to policy documents, the Borno Model advocates for a localised process of rehabilitation directly into communities, mediated by local organisations, traditional rulers, religious leaders and victims. The model operates on the premise that a significant portion of those in Boko Haram were forcefully recruited, coerced or driven by poverty rather than ideology, and that the path to peace requires a form of conditional forgiveness.

Despite the government’s claims of success, the reintegration programme has faced significant criticism from civil society, legal practitioners and victims of the insurgency. The President of the Nigerian Bar Association, Afam Osigwe, raised concerns over the secrecy surrounding the process, warning that failure to address victims’ grievances could endanger both communities and the reintegrated persons themselves. “Reintegrating persons who may have unleashed violence or burned properties or committed other criminal activities into communities without addressing the hurt of the victims would appear as compensating perpetrators while overlooking the victims,” Osigwe said. The Country Director of Amnesty International in Nigeria, Isa Sanusi, called for greater transparency, stating that “the government must be transparent about who they are and their level of involvement. Tell the people who these people are, what kind of terrorism they were involved in, and whether they were informants or killers.”

Legal challenges have also been mounted against the reintegration programme. Human rights lawyer Maxwell Opara has filed a suit at the Federal High Court in Abuja seeking to restrain the Nigerian military from further reintegrating repentant insurgents into society without criminal prosecution. Opara argued that releasing individuals suspected of terrorism without judicial conviction violates the Nigerian Constitution and undermines the rule of law. The suit, marked FHC/ABJ/CS/837/2026, also seeks an order compelling the Attorney‑General of the Federation to initiate criminal prosecution of over 700 repentant Boko Haram insurgents.

Community reactions to the reintegration of former insurgents have been deeply divided. Some residents express unease at living alongside individuals who once took up arms against them. A Borno resident suggested that former fighters should be relocated away from communities they once attacked, describing the current arrangement as improper. Others remain sceptical about whether the reintegrated individuals have truly changed, citing ongoing attacks and bombings in Maiduguri that some attribute to the programme. Despite these concerns, government officials maintain that the programme is working and that reintegrated individuals have been accepted by their communities without negative reports.

The Borno State Government has acknowledged funding as a major challenge confronting the reintegration programme, particularly the costs of feeding, clothing and providing education to the large numbers of people in the camps. The state reportedly spent N4.3 billion on livelihood support for former insurgents in 2025, a figure that has drawn criticism given the continued neglect of displacement camps housing victims of the insurgency. Critics have pointed to the disparity between resources devoted to reintegrated ex‑combatants and the lack of budgetary provisions for the over 120,000 Christian survivors of the insurgency still languishing in internally displaced persons camps.

As Nigeria continues its dual strategy of military pressure and non‑kinetic interventions to end the sixteen‑year insurgency, the reintegration of former Boko Haram members remains one of the most contentious aspects of the government’s peace‑building efforts. The Borno State Government has called for increased support from the federal government and international partners to sustain the programme. The commissioner said the government will continue to scale up the programme, emphasising that sustainable peace cannot be achieved without addressing the trauma, rehabilitation and social integration of those who have left the insurgent groups.

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