‘Dangerously Soft on Terror’: ADC Slams Tinubu’s Plan to Reintegrate ‘Repentant’ Insurgents Without Justice

‘Dangerously Soft on Terror’:

ABUJA — The African Democratic Congress (ADC) has launched a blistering attack on the Tinubu administration’s plan to reintegrate hundreds of so-called repentant terrorists into Nigerian society, accusing the government of confusion, weakness, and a “dangerous failure of judgment” that treats mass murderers as errant family members.

In a scathing statement issued Sunday, the ADC warned that the government’s use of language such as “brothers” and “prodigal sons” to describe individuals who have waged a sustained campaign of violence against the Nigerian state reveals a leadership that does not grasp the scale of the existential threat it faces.

“Terrorism is not a family dispute. It is not a moral metaphor,” the statement reads. “It is a sustained and organised campaign of violence against the Nigerian state and its people.”

The opposition party charged that the administration is presenting “confusion dressed up as policy” while failing to answer the most basic questions: Who has been investigated? Who has been prosecuted? On what basis are these individuals deemed safe for reintegration? And what systems exist to monitor them after release?

“Reintegration without justice is not reconciliation; it is injustice. It is facilitation,” the ADC said. “It sends the wrong signal to victims who are still waiting for closure, and even worse, it is a signal to those who may be considering violence that the cost of terror can be negotiated after the fact.”

The party reserved its harshest language for what it called a pattern of political appeasement, stating: “A government that treats terrorists as errant family members is a government that is dangerously soft on terror. And a government that cannot take a clear stand against its enemy cannot defeat it.”

In the absence of transparency and community safeguards, the ADC argued, what is being presented as a national security strategy “begins to look like abdication, if not collaboration.”

The party demanded that those who have committed grave crimes face the full weight of the law, insisting that justice is not optional in a society governed by laws, and that the safety of Nigerian communities must come first.