Treasure 
The Boko Haram Sect is becoming increasingly aggressive since its inception in 2009. Their conduct is marked by extreme brutality and explicit targeting of civilians.
According to the United Nations, more than 27,000 have been killed. About 2 million persons displaced due to violence of Boko Haram Insurgents
The fight against the Boko Haram sect from when it started to date has led to the death of innocent civilians. Military men and other law enforcement agents have been lost to the battle. It has in its wake created a lot of displaced persons, widows, and orphans.
Most of the military dependents left behind go through a lot to process their entitlements. They struggle to eke out a living as their breadwinners are no more.
The only time you hear anybody talk about this group of lonely and left behind people is when the annual armed forces remembrance day is being held.
This usually happens when the MC just says in passing, “Please remember the widows of our fallen heroes” and it ends there.
Sadly, Legislators, Top Government officials, Ministers, and Permanent Secretaries of all ministries in Nigeria are always present at the ceremony. This event is not only held at the Federal Capital Territory but across all the states.
Promises and pledges are usually made. But, I really wonder what happens afterward when I see the sorry state of some widows and veterans.
Recently, the Nigerian Senate introduced a bill to make life comfortable for insurgents, who had killed and maimed thousands of Nigerians. Terrorists who should sit their sorry butts in prison!
This bill seeks to use the Senate to establish…
“A National Agency for the Education, Rehabilitation, De-radicalisation, and Re-integration of Repentant Boko Haram Insurgents in Nigeria”.
However, some lawmakers fear that releasing Boko Haram terrorists into society will be counterproductive. They believe some vulnerable fighters will return to the terror group to commit more atrocities.
The lawmakers added that Boko Haram members do not repent. Hence, the bill should be thrown out. This bill was sponsored by Senator Ibrahim Geidam, the immediate past governor of Yobe State.
It’s shocking to know this bill will offer “REPENTANT” terrorists the opportunity to study abroad. “REPENTANT” Boko Haram members will be funded to get foreign education in contrast to the soldier’s spouse who is out there struggling to survive in the face of nothing.
By the proposed legislation of this bill, terrorism becomes a permanent feature to feed and sustain the activities of the agency which can best be described as a “Terrorist Breeding Agency”. This will put our nation in perpetual harm’s way.
I wonder why certain individuals compare and equate Boko Haram terrorists with the Niger Delta agitators. The Niger Delta militants do not go about attacking villages, targetting, killing, kidnapping, selling, raping women and girls
Again, “How would the agency be certain the so-called “REPENTANT” terrorists have been de-radicalized?”
When you read stories about how jihadists operate globally, you will realize the fact that lying is one of the instruments they use to achieve their goals. It’s permissible and not sin.
I believe most of the terrorists are not truly repentant rather it’s a ploy to ensure their members are blended into the society.
Should a “BILL” like that be signed into law?
This bill is needless, a waste of resources, and a misplaced priority. This idea is definitely not the best strategy to counter crimes.
Terrorism should never be incentivized.
In the past, killer herdsmen who were alleged to be foreigners have been offered money by a certain state governor to stop killing civilians. But guess what?…they continued to terrorize the region and still kill innocent civilians in the state.
For those women, whom their soldiers were sentenced to death for demanding weapons to fight the terrorists although the judgment was later commuted to 10 years imprisonment, this bill is HEARTBREAKING.
This bill will DEMORALIZE each soldier bleeding and sweating, risking it all….fighting out there in the field. Who pray to leave the battlefield alive and return to their loved ones. Those who continue to flush out these terrorists and get killed.
For the communities affected by Insurgency who lack the much-needed attention and intervention, this bill is a WASTE OF RESOURCES.
Let’s not forget, some who go through the excruciating pain borne from the fact that some of their loved ones are not declared as dead but as missing in action (MIA). They don’t know the fate as to whether their loved ones are still alive or not. This bill is so UNFAIR to them.
For the soldiers’ loved ones and all those who lost their loved ones in the terrorized region, this bill is LUDICROUS.
They will find it difficult to comprehend the reason behind the bill to make life comfortable for terrorists. Terrorists who had not only killed their loved ones but made them widowed and orphans.
Some of the bereaved military spouses I’ve spoken with are saddened by this bill. They feel the Boko Haram extremist should pay for their crimes instead of being rewarded.
Therefore, a product of legislation should replace the bill…
“A National Agency to cater for military and other law enforcement(serving, retired and deceased) dependents. The agency will set aside funds for military and law enforcement agents incapacitated in the line of duty”. This should be a better option.
This agency should cater for the following:
- Treatment and medical bills for dependants and all those incapacitated in the line of duty.
- Free foreign and domestic education(scholarships) for dependants who wish to study.
- Stipends, grants, and loans for dependants and those incapacitated in the line of duty.
- Employment opportunities and a lot more.
In most military cantonments, soldiers’ spouses have the requisite qualification on discipline covering different fields of study. But, the job is not there for them. They are not considered in any way in the scheme of things. Such an agency can cater to their needs. Securing and making jobs available for them will help them to take care of the homefront independently when the need arises.
In conclusion…
From my point of view, such a bill can only be likened to be from the pit of hell. Especially, when I consider how women and children suffer in the Internally Displaced Camps in Nigeria.
There’s absolutely nothing that can be used to justify special funds or an agency being set aside to cater to Boko Haram Terrorists. It will only amount to rewarding criminality.
Very shameful
it’s so unfortunate especially when one consider so many things going on right now. It’s so heartbreaking!
Sometimes I wonder about our law makers.
I pray the bill never sees the light of day. The number of widows suffering in the cantonment where I stay is heart wrenching.
Very little provision is made for them in the law. Getting their spouses benefits is another story altogether.
How do we get a voice in the legislature, someone who can speak, without the fear of promotion or posting being affected?
That’s my prayer too. I really appreciate you sharing in the pains of what military widows go through. In my humble opinion, I believe it has to start from home(the services, DEPOWA, NAOWA, NAFOWA). They have a lot to do in this regards. The Ministry of Women Affairs too need to be inculcated into the struggle for advocacy.