Understanding Citizens' Receptivity to Reintegrating Former Terrorist: A study of Nigerian Communities

How receptive are societies to the reintegration of former terrorists into their communities? Most deradicalization and reintegration initiatives are designed for terrorists who have perpetrated terrorism in foreign nations but will be deradicalized and reintegrated into their countries of origin. In contrast, this research focuses on programs in countries where the citizens have experienced terrorism, either directly or indirectly, from the terrorist groups whose members the government targets for reintegration into their communities. Consequently, citizens’ levels of receptivity diverge significantly from those in countries with more conventional reintegration programs. This study examines the disposition of Nigerian citizens toward the Government's deradicalization and reintegration program, which has reintegrated over 1,000 deradicalized ex-Boko Haram fighters to date. The conceptual framework delineates three community categories: Core, Outer, and Peripheral, dependent on their proximity to incidents of terrorist violence. I posit that closer proximity to terrorist violence is correlated with lower receptivity to the reintegration of former terrorists in such scenarios. Employing semi-structured interviews with 100 Nigerians across these communities, the empirical findings contradict my initial expectations. Surprisingly, the findings show higher receptivity in the community closest to terrorist violence. Furthermore, evidence emerges that community residents' proximity to designated reintegration venues negatively correlates with receptivity towards reintegration. The finding suggests that proximity to violence alone may not be the sole determinant of community receptivity to the reintegration of deradicalized individuals.