Nearly 10,000 former Boko Haram combatants have been successfully reintegrated into society in northeast Nigeria, according to authorities in Borno state, as part of a government-backed deradicalisation and rehabilitation programme aimed at encouraging insurgent defections.

The announcement came as 720 ex-fighters graduated from a reintegration centre in Maiduguri, the capital of Borno state, at a ceremony attended by state officials.

With this latest cohort, the total number of former insurgents returned to their communities has reached 9,680, Borno authorities confirmed.

The programme is a key component of a broader Nigerian strategy to weaken jihadist groups active in the Lake Chad region by persuading fighters to surrender and resume civilian life.

Footage from the ceremony showed hundreds of former combatants gathered at the reintegration centre, where participants took an oath before being formally released from the programme.

The Boko Haram insurgency, which began over a decade ago in northeast Nigeria, has killed tens of thousands of people and displaced millions across Nigeria and neighbouring countries. While the group’s capabilities have been significantly reduced by military operations, armed factions continue to launch attacks in parts of the region.

Borno state officials maintain that rehabilitation and reintegration programmes remain essential to ending the conflict and fostering long-term stability in communities affected by the insurgency.