Faith-based interventions to improve reintegration of repentant terrorist combatants in Nigeria: A pilot randomised control trial study

Last registered on December 08, 2020

Pre-Trial

Trial Information

General Information

Title
Faith-based interventions to improve reintegration of repentant terrorist combatants in Nigeria: A pilot randomised control trial study
RCT ID
AEARCTR-0006816
Initial registration date
December 07, 2020

Initial registration date is when the trial was registered.

It corresponds to when the registration was submitted to the Registry to be reviewed for publication.

First published
December 08, 2020, 10:37 AM EST

First published corresponds to when the trial was first made public on the Registry after being reviewed.

Locations

Region

Primary Investigator

Affiliation
Teesside University

Other Primary Investigator(s)

PI Affiliation
Nottingham Trent Unviersity
PI Affiliation
Teesside University
PI Affiliation
University of Benin, Nigeria

Additional Trial Information

Status
In development
Start date
2021-01-01
End date
2021-09-30
Secondary IDs
Abstract
Over the past decade, Nigeria have been terrorised by Boko Haram whose activities according to the UNHCR (2020) has led to the displacement of approximately 2.4 million people in the Lake Chad Basin and over 2 million internally displaced persons in Nigeria. The religious and politically driven ideologies of Boko Haram have also served to exacerbate the conflict especially among the Christians and Muslims. Central to these concerns is the fact that most of the terrorist convicted in Nigeria under the Terrorism Prevention Amendment Act 2013 are been released following the completion of their sentence. A recent systematic review suggest that the Nigerian communities are sceptical of existing reintegration interventions and the acceptance of repentant terrorist combatants back into society (Ike, et al, 2020). The effect of which might have an impact on the repentant combatants’ recidivism. We aim to test randomisation procedure concerning whether the use of faith-based intervention drawn from the Christian and Muslim communities in Abuja, Plateau and Delta States may help improve community attitudes towards reintegration. We also aim to determine the acceptability of the procedure and to select the most appropriate primary outcome measure(s).
External Link(s)

Registration Citation

Citation
Ayobi, Evangelyn Ebi et al. 2020. "Faith-based interventions to improve reintegration of repentant terrorist combatants in Nigeria: A pilot randomised control trial study." AEA RCT Registry. December 08. https://doi.org/10.1257/rct.6816-1.0
Experimental Details

Interventions

Intervention(s)
We will have two groups in each state comprising one control group who will receive the intervention and the other who will receive the treatment as usual in the form of government orientation programmes. We will specifically test both groups’ attitude towards repentant terrorist combatants at baseline. This will be followed by the use of intervention including the faith-based sermons on reconciliation and forgiveness drawn from the Holy Bible and the Quran on the control group only. The outcomes will be measured 3 and 6 months after the 12-session intervention on the control group. The TAU will also be measured at 3- and 6-months interval after receiving government types of intervention. The outcome of our proposed feasibility randomised control trial study is to test randomisation procedure concerning whether the use of faith-based intervention drawn from the Christian and Muslim communities in Abuja, Plateau and Delta States may help improve community attitudes towards reintegration. We also aim to determine the acceptability of the procedure and to select the most appropriate primary outcome measure(s).
Intervention Start Date
2021-01-01
Intervention End Date
2021-08-31

Primary Outcomes

Primary Outcomes (end points)
Our study is interested in two main sets of primary outcomes:

1. Discriminatory tendencies towards repentant combatants
2. Resistance towards reintegration due to perceived lack of trust for government reintegration programmes
Primary Outcomes (explanation)
1. Discriminatory tendencies towards repentant combatants

We will use the ATRC to measure primary outcome. This will be used to measure attitudes towards former combatants and their reintegration in order to denote any discriminatory tendencies towards the combatants. The rationale for using the ATRC is to document whether discriminatory tendencies differs from repentant combatants depending on the level of religiosity of the participants.

2. Resistance towards their reintegration due to perceived lack of trust for government reintegration programmes
The ATRC scale will be used to compare attitudes toward repentant combatants following faith based intervention with attitude towards the same combatants with the group that received government own interventions. If the data shows a negative percentage of response, then we will consider that there is discriminatory tendencies towards repentant combatants and their reintegration.

Secondary Outcomes

Secondary Outcomes (end points)
1. Attitudes towards repentant combatants
Secondary Outcomes (explanation)
1. Attitudes towards repentant combatants: Coefficient of the factor analysis of the Attitudes towards former combatants’ scale will be adopted. Factor spans from -1 to 1. Higher values are interpreted to suggest more positive attitudes towards repentant combatants.

The Attitudes towards former combatants (ATFC) is a scale composed of the following factors (moral/social differences, the capability of change, severity, willingness to leave harmoniously with reintegrated combatants). The ATFC is constructed with 20 Likert scale items.

Each item is composed of the following response alternatives: Strongly disagree, disagree, agree, and strongly agree. 10 items are negative, and the remaining 10 items are positive. Scores of the negative items are reversed. The scores of all items are collectively summed and a constant of 20 (total number of items) is subtracted from the total scores. Potential scores range from 0 to 60. Higher values of the score denotes more positive attitudes towards repentant combatants.

Experimental Design

Experimental Design
First, participants will be randomised into two groups that vary based on the study’s faith-based intervention and the treatment as usual group using government intervention. The study will adopt a simple and blind randomised strategy where participants are only aware of the group there are assigned and not made to engage with the intervention from the other group.
Experimental Design Details
None
Randomization Method
Stratified randomization by main states followed by simple randomization into treatment.
Randomization Unit
Individual
Was the treatment clustered?
No

Experiment Characteristics

Sample size: planned number of clusters
Sample size: planned number of clusters
120 individuals
Sample size: planned number of observations
120 individuals
Sample size (or number of clusters) by treatment arms
Sample size: planned number of observations
120 individuals
Sample size (or number of clusters) by treatment arms
Treatment Group: Faith based intervention
Fb+CBT in Abuja – (20)
Fb+CBT in Jos, Plateau State – (20)
Fb+CBT in Delta State (20)

Pure Control Group: Government-based intervention (GbI)
GbI in Abuja – (20)
GbI in Jos, Plateau State (20)
GbI in Delta State (20)

Please note that the proposed sample size was chosen as it is a pilot study.
Minimum detectable effect size for main outcomes (accounting for sample design and clustering)
IRB

Institutional Review Boards (IRBs)

IRB Name
The Redeemed Christian Church of God Nigeria
IRB Approval Date
2020-12-04
IRB Approval Number
N/A

Post-Trial

Post Trial Information

Study Withdrawal

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Intervention

Is the intervention completed?
No
Data Collection Complete
Data Publication

Data Publication

Is public data available?
No

Program Files

Program Files
Reports, Papers & Other Materials

Relevant Paper(s)

Reports & Other Materials