Former Chief of Defence Staff, Gen. Lucky Irabor (retd.), has dismissed widespread claims that repentant Boko Haram members are being recruited into the Nigerian Armed Forces.
Speaking on Channels Television’s Politics on Monday, Irabor said such allegations are impossible under the military’s recruitment structure. “It has always been a burden for me where we got this impression from. How can they be recruited? This does not exist,” he said.
Irabor, who previously served as Theatre Commander of Operation Lafiya Dole, Force Commander of the Multinational Joint Task Force, Chief of Defence Training and Operations, and later CDS, argued that his extensive experience makes the claim illogical. “How could it be? Where people got that impression, I cannot tell,” he added.
He explained that even basic enlistment into the armed forces requires strict vetting, including clearance from applicants’ local governments — a process he said makes it impossible for former terrorists to infiltrate the system.
“It is impossible. Besides, you can’t come into the military if those in your local government have not actually sanctioned you,” he stressed.
Irabor clarified that Operation Safe Corridor, a Federal Government initiative, is responsible for deradicalising and reintegrating low-risk Boko Haram defectors into civilian life, not the military.
While acknowledging gaps in tackling nationwide insecurity, he rejected claims that security agencies are to blame, noting that manpower, equipment, and improved understanding of security dynamics are essential to strengthening the counterinsurgency effort.
The Federal Government has in recent years expanded Operation Safe Corridor to manage low-risk ex-fighters who voluntarily surrender.
