No fewer than 602 repentant Boko Haram members, on Monday, denounced their membership of the group and swore an oath of allegiance to the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

The ex-insurgents who have completed a de-radicalization, rehabilitation, and reintegration program, denounced their membership of the insurgent group at the Malam Sidi Camp in Kwami Local Government Area of Gombe State.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that they denounced their membership of Boko Haram before an 11-man Quasi-Judicial Panel headed by Justice Nehizena Afolabi, of the Federal High Court, Gombe.

Speaking during the exercise, Maj.-Gen. Bamidele Shafa, the Coordinator, Operation Safe Corridor, said the appearance of the repentant insurgents before the judicial panel was a major requirement, before their reintegration into the society.

The announcement generated a lot of backlash on social media, Nigerians attacked the decision.

Many have raised questions like “is it possible to screen the combatants well enough to measure what level of threat they pose?

READ ALSO: Boko Haram, Banditry: Nigerians urged to intensify prayers for military hierarchy, troops to defeat killers across the country

Another question that’s raised is: how can we ensure that the ‘former terrorists’, if re-integrated into the society, do not end up radicalising others in the community, or becoming spies to their former terrorist masters?

Some have accused the government of playing with the terrorists