Repentant militants threaten resumption of hostility over training suspension

Nathan Tamarapreye

Repentant militants under the third phase of the Presidential Amnesty Programme on Tuesday threatened to go back to the creeks over suspension of training, empowerment, and reintegration programmes.

The third phase ex-agitators under the auspices of the United Amnesty Delegates frowned at the abandonment of the reintegration and empowerment component in a radio programme monitored in Yenagoa.

They stated that defaulting full reintegration of all repentant militants captured during the disarmament stage amounted to a breach of the terms of the amnesty agreement and advised government to keep the pact.

The leader of the group, Mr Ebi John, said the suspension followed the non-payment of verified Presidential Amnesty Programme’s contractors from November 2019 to date.

According to him, the speculations on plans to scrap or wind down the Amnesty Programme without fully reintegrating the 30,000 beneficiaries has caused apprehension among their fold as they were contemplating a protest to demand the resumption of the exercise.

It is recalled that President Muhammadu Buhari, on August 26 announced the sack of Prof Charles Dokubo, who was suspended in February 2020 and appointed Col Milland Dikio (rtd) as interim coordinator of the amnesty programme.

Speaking on the radio programme, the Ex-militant leader lamented the pains the ex-militants in the Niger Delta are going through because of the non-payment of contractors handling various trainings and empowerment schemes in the programme.

He said that the most critical part of the Amnesty Programme is the reintegration of the ex-agitators into civil life.

Reintegration, he said comprises the training and empowerment of the ex-agitators to enable them to have sustainable sources of livelihoods in line with the amnesty deal with the federal government.

He said that the suspension of training and empowerment of the ex-agitators, was a clear indication of the rumoured scraping of the Presidential Amnesty Programme by the present administration adding that the move would be resisted.

He said: “Our findings indicate that Retired Gen Monguno who is the National Security Adviser to President Muhammadu Buhari has overseen the programme and we shall not accept scraping the Presidential Amnesty Programme without achieving its objectives.

“The United Amnesty Delegates is sending a message to Gen Monguno (Rtd) that the alleged plot to scrap the programme is now clear to the entire Niger Delta people, particularly the ex-militants and we will resist it with our blood as usual.

“The non-payment of contractors/vendors by the Amnesty office since November last year is a ploy by Gen. Mongono (rtd) to cleverly scrap the Presidential Amnesty Programme as beneficiaries of the programme no more undergo trainings. This is because of the backlog monies the office is owing contractors.

“We are calling on the Nigerian government to call Gen Mongono to order and prevail on him to pay all verified contractors to enable beneficiaries to return to their various training centres to continue with their training and empowerment schemes without further delay.

“If the government fails to address this appalling situation, we shall have no other option than go back to the creeks and take actions that will compel the presidency to react immediately.

“The payment should cut across board and devoid of bias.

“The United Amnesty delegates demand an explanation as to why the NSA is still the one running the office after an interim coordinator has been appointed.

“Gen. Mongono should hand over everything that concerns the PAP office to Col Milland Dixon Dikio (rtd) to kick start and act as the substantial coordinator,” Ebi said.

Chairman of Amnesty Vendors Forum, Mr Samson Graham in a reaction said the Amnesty office stopped paying contractors since November 2019.

According to him, the contractors cannot continue their trainings and empowerment schemes without funds, hence, everything about training and empowerment have been halted for about one year.

He appealed to the Presidency to facilitate the payment of verified contractors to enable them to return to the various training centers to continue their jobs.

A source at the Presidential Amnesty Office who spoke on condition of anonymity stated that the delays were due to several audit investigations in the tenure of the last Coordinator.

“It is common knowledge that whenever an organisation is being probed or investigated, it affects a lot of things and the Amnesty programme is not an exception.

“Prof Charles Dokubo was initially suspended to pave way for investigations and eventually in August 2020, he was relieved of his appointment and a new coordinator appointed so I think that explains the development,” the source said.