Nigeria unveils program to counter extreme violence

The Nigerian government on Friday unveiled a program to counter extreme violence and create awareness on the threats of violent extremism.

The National Security Adviser Sambo Dasuki said at an interactive session with newsmen and other stakeholders that the program was being supported by the European Union and other development partners.

Dasuki added that the program would familiarize the public with the efforts of the government on counter-terrorism, especially the soft approaches that were hitherto unknown.

He listed the components of the program to include counter- radicalization, de-radicalization program and strategic communication.

The security adviser said the program would also identify and strengthen credible voices in communities, collate data of religious figures, sects and places of worship as well as capture the kind of teachings/preaching in schools and worship centers.

He said it would identify and strengthen channels of distribution of counter-terrorism initiatives, including inter and intra-faith.

According to Dasuki, the program will also identify and start up small business in flash point states and work with law enforcement agencies to increase the reach of community policing.

He said the program would also engage the security forces in community building initiatives, by involving the civil military department of the Nigeria Army.

Nigeria's internal security environment has deteriorated in the last decade. Thousands of people had been killed, and hundreds of villages bombed in Boko Haram's four-year insurgency in Nigeria, Africa's most populous nation.

Northern states of Adamawa, Borno and Yobe have been under the state of emergency since May 2013. Endi