Zagazola Debunks Viral Boko Haram Claims, Exposes How False Narratives Are Targeting Govt. Deradicalisation Programme
By: Zagazola Makama
The viral outburst by a man claiming to be a victim of the insurgency in the North-East is not only reckless and emotionally manipulative, but also a dangerous cocktail of falsehoods, conspiracy theories, blackmail and outright propaganda aimed at discrediting one of the most scrutinized deradicalisation and reintegration programmes in Nigeria.
Yes, the conflict in the North-East has produced pain. Thousands of families lost loved ones. Entire communities were destroyed. Nobody is denying that reality. But grief does not give anyone the licence to manufacture lies, demonize victims, smear security-backed initiatives or spread dangerous disinformation capable of undermining national security efforts.
The speaker in the now-viral video attempted to package fiction as fact, hoping emotional blackmail would substitute for evidence. Unfortunately for him, facts exist, records exist, and the truth is far stronger than tears before a camera. First, his claim that surrendered insurgents are “classified” according to how many people they killed is completely false.
In his words, he alleged that officials ask surrendered fighters questions like “How many people have you killed?” and then determine rehabilitation duration based on body count. He even absurdly claimed that those who killed more people are rewarded with billions of naira and monthly salaries.
This is pure fabrication. The reality is that every surrendered individual undergoes a detailed profiling process involving security agencies, intelligence services, psychologists, social workers and humanitarian actors. The profiling is not about rewarding murderers. It is about identifying who the individual truly is, how they entered the conflict, their level of indoctrination, whether they were fighters, abductees, forced conscripts, wives, children born in captivity or support elements trapped under terrorist control.
Many of those who surrendered were never fighters in the first place. Over the years, thousands of women, children and farmers were abducted into terrorist enclaves. Some were forcefully conscripted. Others were born inside the camps after years of captivity. To deliberately ignore this complexity and falsely portray every surrendered person as a mass murderer is dishonest and intellectually lazy.
There is nowhere in the rehabilitation process where anybody is rewarded based on the number of people killed. There is also nowhere anyone is released after “one month” as he falsely claimed. Rehabilitation, deradicalisation, psychological assessment, vocational training and reintegration take structured processes supervised by multiple agencies.
The man simply invented a story and hoped public anger would carry it. Then came his even more ridiculous claim that the government allegedly provides gold mining opportunities to repentant insurgents and transports them to Algeria for illegal mining operations.
This conspiracy theory collapses under the weight of simple logic. Where exactly is gold mining taking place in the North-East operational theatres of Boko Haram? None.
Did surrendered Boko Haram members ever return with gold? No. Has there ever been any credible intelligence, security report or international investigation linking Nigeria’s deradicalisation programme to illegal mining operations in Algeria? Absolutely none.
The claim is not just false. It is embarrassingly senseless. Even worse, he claimed those allegedly sent to Algeria are transported back to Maiduguri for treatment at the University of Maiduguri Teaching Hospital whenever they sustain injuries.
That statement alone exposes the entire narrative as fantasy. According to him, the government is secretly transporting terrorists across international borders for mining operations, then secretly evacuating injured fighters back into Nigeria for treatment, all without a single piece of evidence, leak, arrest, diplomatic issue or international report.
It is the kind of fiction that belongs in low-budget propaganda, not serious public discourse.
Another dangerous lie pushed in the video was his attempt to label members of the Civilian Joint Task Force (CJTF) as repentant Boko Haram members operating in Abuja and other cities. This is perhaps the most insulting part of the entire outburst.
The CJTF emerged in Borno State during the peak of Boko Haram’s terror campaign when ordinary youths took enormous risks to defend their communities against terrorists. One of the CJTF Commander in Bama, Maazu Mijiya even left his bank Job to join in defense of his home town at a time when Boko Haram carried out targeted assassinations and controlled parts of Maiduguri, these young volunteers stood up and resisted them street by street.
Many paid with their lives. Records from the CJTF itself estimate that between 1,000 and 1,700 members have either been killed or gone missing since the insurgency began. These were sons, brothers, fathers and community defenders murdered by Boko Haram. So for anyone to shamelessly stand before a camera and falsely label these same people as “repentant Boko Haram” is not activism. It is slander.
Today, the CJTF structure is formally recognized under Borno State laws. And trained by United Nations Agencies and supervised by various organizations. There are over 23,000 members spread across communities, working alongside security agencies in intelligence gathering, community protection and stabilization efforts. In 2015, many were absorbed into structured youth empowerment and community security initiatives under the BOYES programme. While many have also been employed into the Nigerian Army and deployed to defend their states.
The model has even inspired similar community protection structures in North Western states battling insecurity and banditry.
The speaker’s lies completely collapse when confronted with one simple fact. Boko Haram considers the CJTF among its worst enemies. The terrorists have repeatedly targeted CJTF members and their families for assassination.
So how exactly are the CJTF simultaneously Boko Haram and enemies of Boko Haram?
The contradiction exposes the emptiness of the propaganda.
His claim that “repented IDPs are repented Boko Haram” is equally nonsensical. Internally Displaced Persons are victims of terrorism. These are people displaced from their homes by violence, killings and destruction. Turning around to label them all as terrorists is cruel, irresponsible and dehumanizing.
The truth about the deradicalisation process has already been publicly explained multiple times by officials directly involved in the programme.
According to the Commissioner for Women Affairs in Borno State, over 400,000 people who surrendered or escaped from terrorist territories consist largely of women, children and farmers. Of that number, about 8,950 have undergone reintegration in structured batches after screening and rehabilitation. These reintegrated individuals are now contributing economically through farming, petty trading and other lawful livelihoods across communities.
The programme is not a secret operation. It involves security vetting, intelligence monitoring and community-based reintegration mechanisms.
The Commissioner also explained that security agencies, including the DSS, actively track anyone suspected of attempting to act as a double agent. Individuals found engaging in suspicious conduct are immediately arrested.
Contrary to the lies in the viral video, the programme is not about rewarding terrorism. It is about dismantling terrorist recruitment pipelines, encouraging defections, rescuing captives and reducing violence.
The painful reality many critics refuse to accept is that a large percentage of those trapped inside terrorist territories are themselves victims.
Many were kidnapped, many were born there and many are desperate to escape but fear execution by terrorist commanders.
According to testimonies gathered during rehabilitation, Boko Haram imposes death penalties on those attempting escape. Women are now also punished for trying to flee. This explains why community engagement, especially through mothers and families, has become an important strategy in encouraging defections.
The Commissioner revealed how mothers have successfully convinced sons to surrender by reaching out through community networks. In some cases, surrendered fighters specifically cited their mothers’ pleas as the reason they abandoned the insurgency.
This is not weakness. This is counterinsurgency strategy. Wars are not won only by bullets. They are also won by breaking recruitment cycles, encouraging defections, separating hardcore fighters from captives and rebuilding communities destroyed by extremism.
The speaker in the viral video either does not understand this reality or deliberately ignores it for emotional manipulation.
His statement that he now wants to “start his own terrorism business” because the government allegedly supports terrorism is especially reckless. That is not the language of advocacy. That is the language of radicalization.
Nobody disputes that he may have suffered personal loss. Many people in Borno and across the North-East have similar painful stories. But countless others who lost fathers, mothers, wives, husbands and children did not resort to spreading poisonous falsehoods against victims, security volunteers and deradicalisation efforts.
One CJTF commander alone reportedly lost 17 members of his family to Boko Haram violence. Yet he continued defending communities rather than manufacturing conspiracy theories before cameras. In young boy from Bama known as Small Bukar, lost about 80 members of his family. Instead of giving up everything, he decided to join the Nigerian Army to continue defending his community.
The attempt to emotionally blackmail the public by crying while spreading disinformation does not transform lies into truth. Facts remain facts.
Even his claims about Adamu Rugurugu were misleading. Contrary to his assertions, Adamu Rugurugu is not parading around in luxury vehicles in Maiduguri. He remains within the rehabilitation framework and has reportedly been involved in encouraging further defections while warning surrendered persons against maintaining ties with active terrorist elements.
At a recent programme attended by stakeholders, he openly cautioned ex-fighters against attempting any communication with terrorists still in the bush and vowed support for government action against violators.
The North-East conflict is too serious for this level of reckless propaganda.
Nigeria’s deradicalisation and reintegration efforts are not perfect. No post-conflict programme anywhere in the world is perfect. But reducing an extremely complex humanitarian and security process into childish conspiracy theories is irresponsible and harmful.
What the viral speaker offered was not truth.
JIt was anger weaponized into disinformation.
