Benue Seeks FG’s Approval to Rehabilitate ‘400 Repentant Bandits’

The Benue state government says it is seeking the approval of the federal government to set up a disarmament, demobilisation and reintegration (DDR) centre to rehabilitate “repentant bandits”.

Josephine Habba, director-general of the commission for peace and reconciliation, told journalists in Makurdi, the state capital, that the centre is designed to rehabilitate individuals who, by circumstance, became foot soldiers for bandits.

She said the state has formally requested Olufemi Oluyede, chief of defence staff, to approve the establishment of the DDR centre specifically for bandits of Benue origin.

Habba noted that the DDR centre is a military programme certified and funded by the United Nations, adding that its creation would attract international attention to the state.

She noted that operationalising the centre would also increase troop deployment in Benue.

“These persons are not necessarily criminals but were taken in to do dirty jobs for those in the forest because they know that if they (local bandits) come out, they would be recognised, so they needed foot soldiers,” Punch quoted Habba as saying.

“Even pregnant women were abducted and turned into their cooks. The number of people from the biometrics we have done is over 1,800, but 400 are willing to be rehabilitated.”

Habba said the commission has developed a plan to be unveiled at a peace summit on Wednesday, February 25, 2026, which “captures everything and ensures that these people graduate and are given certificates”.

“The programme will run for six months to one year. While they are there, the committee will engage in community resilience, identify livelihoods that were destroyed, restore them, compensate where needed, and ensure schools and hospitals are rebuilt for a seamless reintegration of these people into their families,” she said.

Habba said the proposed centre is expected to be located in Logo LGA, adding that the project would cost “millions of naira”.

Benue state has witnessed several incidents of farmer-herder clashes and kidnapping-for-ransom crisis, resulting in many deaths and displacement of residents.