A native of Borno State, Enoch Yohanna, has accused the Federal Government of Nigeria of providing financial payouts of up to N3 million to rehabilitated Boko Haram insurgents. Speaking at a recent public event, Yohanna expressed deep grievance over the alleged use of public funds to compensate individuals responsible for widespread atrocities.
"My pain is that the assailants who killed my father and carried out mass abductions are being paid with taxpayers' money," Yohanna stated.
The controversy centers on Operation Safe Corridor (OSC), an initiative launched by the Muhammadu Buhari administration in 2016. The program was designed to establish a non-violent exit strategy for "low-risk" and "repentant" combatants. It utilizes a structured framework of Deradicalisation, Rehabilitation, and Reintegration (DRR) to transition former insurgents back into society.
According to Yohanna, "Boko Haram members are being rehabilitated. After rehabilitation, they fill a form and are asked questions about how many people they have killed. If they killed 50, there is a specific class. If you have never killed, you stay there one month. If you killed a small number, two months. If you killed many, six months. They are also asked about the type of ammunition used. These are the people who are given a payoff of N3 million and a monthly salary of N50,000. I am revealing this."
He further alleged that after rehabilitation, those who cannot live without using guns are provided with firearms by the government to serve as civilian JTF. "You all know they are here in Abuja. Most of them are repented Boko Haram. Some of them that cannot stay in society are being exported to Algeria to go and do illegal gold mining in Algeria and be paid. If they sustain gunshots, they are transported back to Maiduguri and treated at the University of Maiduguri Teaching Hospital through the Borno State government."
Yohanna also claimed that civilian JTF members are present in Zamfara State. "The government of Zamfara is paying the government of Borno N70,000. The government of Borno is paying them N50,000, meaning it is a job. It is a business. It is not a crime to start a business if the business is being recognized by our government."
He added, "The business I am craving for is to start my terrorism. I am not going to terrorize anybody. I am going to fight back. It has been so painful that the killers of my dad are being paid with taxpayers' money. The abductors of our wives, our children, our sisters are being paid with taxpayers' money. They drive luxury cars with escorts. There is one man that slaughtered 96 people a day, now he is driving a Hilux. His name is Adamu. I am saying this. I do not care. I am ready to die because what is this life?"
Watch a video of him speaking below.
