Ex-Militants Warn FG Against Termination Of Amnesty Programme
Following the rumoured termination of the Presidential Amnesty Programme in 2015, the Niger Delta ex-militants under the third phase amnesty (Ebipa-Opre Ex-militants Forum), have warned the federal Government against the decision.
The Coordinator of the ex-militants, Ramsey Oyakemeagbegha, in a statement issued in Yenagoa, Bayelsa State capital, which was obtained by Vanguard, warned that the federal government decision to terminate the programme could trigger fresh crisis in the region.
Related: Ex-Militant Leader Gives Presidency Condition To Sustain Peace In Delta
The statement noted that the conditions that prompted militancy in the Niger Delta region had not been addressed.
“We are of the view and in support of our leader, Asari Dokubo’s suggestion that the amnesty should continue and not stop, as being rumoured, in 2015. Our people are still without potable water, no good education and functional health facilities. Pollution occasioned by the oil industry still continues and there is a multitude of unemployed youth in the land. Making 2015 the end of the Presidential Amnesty Programme, as being rumoured, could spell more trouble for our region and the country. An idle mind is the devil’s workshop. A stitch in time, they say, saves nine,” the statement read.
The group in the statement also condemned the increase in crime on the region’s waterways and urged security operatives to curtail it. They also reaffirmed their support to President Goodluck Jonathan, if he decides to contest the 2015 presidential election.
The Niger Delta cuts across three geopolitical zones of Nigeria namely; South South, South East and South West. It comprises nine states Rivers, Bayelsa, Akwa Ibom, Cross Rivers, Delta, Edo, Imo, Abia and Ondo. It is from this zones that over 90% of the country’s revenue is generated, while indigenes of the area live in abject poverty and deprivation as environmental hazards and threat to source of their livelihood is the order of the day.
Related: Ex-Militant Issues Warning To Northern Leaders Over Jonathan's Re-Election
In a reaction to these challenges, the youths of the area began a protest and took to arms struggle in order to draw government attention to their predicament. The militants, whose attacks in the six Niger Delta states reportedly cost the country a third of its oil production, was curtailed after later President Umaru Yar'Adua, offered an amnesty deal to the militants in 2009, with the aim of reducing unrest in the oil-rich region. The amnesty was an unconditional pardon and cash payments to militants who agree to lay down their arms and embrace peace.
Source: Legit.ng
