Northeast Nigeria is gripped with the threats of terrorism, which is linked with bad leadership, poverty, unemployment, pervasive illiteracy and extreme deprivation. According to the report, over two million children either have lost their parents or have been separated from them due to insurgency and over fifteen thousand people have been killed. The need to ensure peace in the northeast has gained currency in the intellectual space. However, there has been insufficient interrogation of the relationship between corruption and deradicalisation process, including the effects of this relationship on Boko Haram insurgency in the north east, Nigeria. This article examined the effects of corruption on deradicalisation strategies of the government and the escalation of insurgency in the region. Using in-depth interviews, the article found evidence that the insurgents had more credible intelligence about the moves and strategies of the armed forces than the latter had on the former, and that military approach alone was inadequate. The findings revealed the dynamics of the relationship and existing social ties between the insurgents and the locals on the one hand and between the military and the locals on the other hand.