Africa needs justice and cooperation to win terror war: Rights lawyer

Gloria Ballason, a human rights advocate and CEO of House of Justice in Kaduna, has called on African governments to bolster regional cooperation, ensure criminal accountability, and implement restorative justice measures to effectively combat violent extremism and achieve lasting stability.

Ballason, also a legal practitioner and peacebuilding expert, warned that the continent's security remains precarious unless nations, particularly in the Sahel region, collaborate through coordinated counter-terrorism strategies. She delivered these remarks while presenting 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, held on Tuesday, August 4, at the National Defence College in Abuja.

Reviewing the 2025 Global Terrorism Index, which identified Burkina Faso, Niger, Nigeria, and Somalia as Africa's most terrorism-affected countries, Ballason expressed concern over Nigeria's deteriorating security situation. This is occurring despite substantial increases in defense spending, with Nigeria's security budget reportedly rising from N1.1 trillion in 2016 to N5.41 trillion in 2026. She noted that violent attacks have expanded beyond the Northeast to other regions, including the Southwest.

Further illustrating the severity of the problem, Ballason cited a National Bureau of Statistics report indicating that N2.23 trillion was paid in ransoms between 2023 and 2024, underscoring insecurity as a lucrative criminal enterprise. She also referenced findings from the Committee on Audit of Defence Equipment Procurement in the Armed Forces, which reportedly implicated former military chiefs in fraudulent arms procurement.

Ballason decried a perceived contradiction in Nigeria's counter-terrorism approach. While policies exist for disarming, demobilizing, and reintegrating repentant terrorists, she lamented the absence of a comprehensive framework to rehabilitate, compensate, and support victims of terrorism. "We have reached a point where human beings are traded and killed in forest markets while the sponsors, perpetrators, instigators and collaborators of violent extremism continue to operate freely," she stated.

The legal expert stressed that restorative justice should complement, not replace, the criminal justice system. This approach, she argued, would ensure perpetrators are held accountable while simultaneously enabling victims to regain their dignity, livelihoods, and psychological well-being. Ballason cautioned against equating rehabilitation with amnesty, insisting that individuals responsible for serious terrorist offenses must face investigation and prosecution. Only victims of forced recruitment and carefully vetted low-risk participants should be considered for rehabilitation programs, she concluded.

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We have reached a point where human beings are traded and killed in forest markets while the sponsors, perpetrators, instigators and collaborators of violent extremism continue to operate freely.