Criminal Accountability, Restorative Justice Necessary For Ending Violent Extremism –Lawyer

A legal practitioner and peace advocate, Gloria Michael Ballason, has asserted that regional cooperation, criminal accountability and restorative justice are imperative for ending violent extremism and ensuring regional stability.

Ballason warned that without cooperation by the Sahelian states and the African continent, the stability of the continent will hang in the balance.

She stated this in a paper titled, “Terrorism Desistance, Regional Stability and Restorative Justice,” at the Africa Peace Fellows Conference on Restorative Justice and Management of Victims of Violent Extremism in Africa on Tuesday at the National Defence College, Abuja.

Reviewing the 2025 Global Terrorism Index which cites Burkina Faso, Niger, Nigeria and Somalia as the top five most terrorised countries of the African continent, the legal expert argued that insecurity in Nigeria had become so lucrative that the Committee on Audit of Defence Equipment Procurement in the Armed Forces found military chiefs culpable in fraudulent arms deal.

The report showed that Nigeria’s security budget moved from N1.1 trillion in 2016 to N5.41 trillion in 2026 with violence increasing and spreading from the North-East to South -West while the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) Report revealed N2.23 trillion was paid in ransom between 2023 and 2024.

She lamented the present situation where humans are hawked and killed in the forest market while the sponsors, perpetrators, instigators and collaborators of violent extremism walk freely and continue their stock in trade in a country that has designed non-kinetic policy of Disarmament, Demobilisation and Re-integration for terrorists but has no policy for the hundreds of thousands of its growing victims of murder, sex slavery, arson and mass displacement.

She maintained that restorative justice should complement but not replace the criminal justice system by ensuring accountability for perpetrators while helping victims recover their dignity, livelihoods and emotional wellbeing.

Gloria Ballason warned against equating rehabilitation with amnesty, insisting that individuals responsible for grave terrorist offences must be made to face investigation and prosecution, while victims of forced recruitment and low-risk participants may be considered for carefully screened rehabilitation programmes.

Ballason noted that although military operations remain indispensable in degrading terrorist networks, experience across Africa has shown that force alone cannot eliminate violent extremism without addressing its root causes, including weak governance, poverty, unemployment, political instability, social exclusion and ideological radicalisation.

Drawing lessons from Algeria, Mauritania, Tunisia and Colombia, she said countries that successfully reduced terrorism combined security operations with justice, reconciliation initiatives, economic inclusion, institutional reforms and community-based recovery programmes.

She also called on African governments to strengthen regional cooperation through intelligence sharing, coordinated border management, harmonised counter-terrorism legislation and stronger collaboration among continental and regional institutions.

The peace advocate urged governments to set their agenda to end violent extremism, adopt measurable indicators that reflect the containment of insecurity and the recovery of victims and to be as committed and deliberate about ending insecurity in the region and continent as they are about winning elections and holding onto power.

According to her, annual reports should capture scalable insecurity containment results, the number of victims compensated, survivors receiving psychological treatment, displaced persons and communities successfully resettled, children returned to school, livelihoods restored and communities rebuilt.

“A terrorist organisation may be militarily defeated while its victims remain permanently broken. That cannot properly be described as victory”, Ballason declared.

She added that Africa’s long-term security and regional stability would depend on strengthening governance, improving regional security cooperation, addressing corruption and accelerating inclusive economic growth.