Ndume kicks against 'Boko Haram agency' bill

Borno State lawmaker, Senator Ali Ndume, says he is completely against the bill seeking to establish an agency for repentant Boko Haram terrorists.

The bill, ‘National Agency for the Education, Rehabilitation, De-radicalisation and Integration of repentant insurgents in Nigeria (Est, etc) Bill, 2020 (SB. 340)’, was sponsored by Yobe lawmaker, Senator Ibrahim Gaidam on Thursday, February 20, 2020.

It seeks to create a national agency that would see to the rehabilitation, de-radicalisation, and integration of repentant insurgents in the country.

But Ndume believes the bill would encourage more people to embrace terrorism.

“I personally disagree with that. The war is not over and some criminals that have been killing people you say that you are doing Operation Safe Corridor for them," Ndume told ChannelsTV.

“I am completely against that idea. They know my position on that, you can’t do that.

“It is when you win the war and some people surrender that you think about something like that.

“You are just telling people to go and join Boko Haram and then repent and become something (sic) that’s a totally unacceptable idea and a way of solving the problem,” he declared.

Similarly, the Arewa Youths Consultative Forum has called on relevant agencies to investigate Senator Gaidam who proposed the bill.

The group further described the proposed bill as a "stupid piece of legislation".