A man who says his father was killed by Boko Haram has alleged that repentant insurgents receive a N3 million payoff after completing rehabilitation and are placed on a monthly salary of N50,000. The claim has circulated widely on social media, drawing strong reactions from Nigerians debating the government’s deradicalisation program.
The allegation was posted on X and Facebook by the man, who identified himself as a victim of the insurgency. He argued that while families of those killed by Boko Haram receive little support, former fighters who surrender under the government’s program allegedly get financial benefits from the state. No documents, receipts, or official statements were included to substantiate the figures.
The claim refers to Operation Safe Corridor, the Nigerian military’s non-kinetic initiative for low-risk former Boko Haram and ISWAP fighters who surrender voluntarily. Launched in 2016, the program provides deradicalisation, vocational training, civic education, and psychosocial support before participants are handed over to state authorities for reintegration into their communities.
In July 2020, the Defence Headquarters announced that 601 repentant fighters, including 14 foreign nationals from Cameroon, Chad, and Niger, had been reintegrated through the program. The Coordinator of Operation Safe Corridor, Maj. Gen. Bamidele Shafa, has described it as a strategy to give ex-combatants a chance to return to society peacefully and reduce recruitment.
Claims that repentant fighters receive monthly payments of N150,000 have circulated since 2020. The Federal Government has repeatedly denied them. President Muhammadu Buhari’s former aide on new media, Bashir Ahmed, stated in November 2020 that the government was “NOT planning to start paying repented Boko Haram members N150,000 monthly” and called the story false.
Independent fact-checkers Dubawa and Daily Trust also found no evidence of monthly salaries. Their investigations concluded that participants do not receive a regular salary. At most, some received a one-off grant of around N20,000 to start a trade after completing the program. There is no verified public record of a N3 million payoff or a N50,000 monthly stipend.
Government spending on the program has been disclosed for infrastructure, not direct payments. Between December 2022 and May 2024, the Ministry of Justice spent N1.4 billion on constructing rehabilitation centers and renovating facilities for terrorism trials and Operation Safe Corridor.
The claim resonates because many victims’ families in the North-East say they have received little assistance, while reintegration of former fighters remains controversial. Similar unverified claims about payments to insurgents have surfaced before, including a 2019 allegation that Boko Haram members were paid $3,000 daily, which the Army dismissed as false….See More
