A Kaduna-based legal practitioner and peacebuilding specialist, Gloria Mabeiam Michael Ballason, has called for enhanced regional cooperation, criminal accountability and restorative justice as essential measures to curb violent extremism and secure regional stability across Africa.
Speaking at the Africa Peace Fellows Conference on Restorative Justice and Management of Victims of Violent Extremism, held at the National Defence College in Abuja, Ballason warned that without concerted collaboration among Sahelian states and the broader African continent, the region’s stability remains precarious.
In her paper titled ‘Terrorism Desistance, Regional Stability and Restorative Justice’, the legal expert contended that insecurity in Nigeria has become alarmingly lucrative, citing the Committee on Audit of Defence Equipment Procurement’s findings that implicated senior military officers in fraudulent arms deals.
Referencing the 2025 Global Terrorism Index, which ranks Burkina Faso, Niger, Nigeria and Somalia among the five most terrorised nations in Africa, Ballason observed that Nigeria’s security budget had surged from N1.1 trillion in 2016 to N5.41 trillion in 2026, yet violence has escalated and spread from the North-East to the South-West. She further noted that the National Bureau of Statistics reported N2.23 trillion in ransom payments between 2023 and 2024.
She lamented the absence of a comprehensive policy framework for the hundreds of thousands of victims of murder, sexual slavery, arson and mass displacement, decrying a reality in which individuals are traded and killed in forest markets while perpetrators, sponsors and collaborators of violent extremism evade justice. This, she argued, persists despite Nigeria’s non-kinetic Disarmament, Demobilisation and Reintegration policy for terrorists.
“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,” Ballason stated.
She proposed that victims of forced recruitment and low-risk offenders might be considered for carefully vetted rehabilitation programmes, but cautioned against equating rehabilitation with amnesty, insisting that individuals responsible for grave terrorist offences must face investigation and prosecution.
While acknowledging that military operations remain indispensable in degrading terrorist networks, Ballason noted that African experience has demonstrated that force alone cannot eradicate violent extremism without confronting root causes such as weak governance, poverty, unemployment, political instability, social exclusion and ideological radicalisation.
Drawing lessons from Algeria, Mauritania, Tunisia and Colombia, she highlighted that successful counter-terrorism efforts combined security operations with justice, reconciliation initiatives, economic inclusion, institutional reforms and community-based recovery programmes.
Ballason urged African governments to strengthen regional cooperation through intelligence sharing, coordinated border management, harmonised counter-terrorism legislation and enhanced collaboration among continental and regional institutions.
She appealed to leaders to demonstrate the same commitment to ending insecurity as they do to electoral victories and power retention, calling for measurable indicators that reflect both the containment of violence and the recovery of victims. She recommended that annual reports capture tangible results, including reductions in insecurity, numbers of victims compensated, survivors receiving psychological support, 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 concluded 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.
