Tag Archives: Amnesty Programme

Rivers State Government grants amnesty to cultists

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An amnesty programme has been set up by the Rivers State government for cultists in the state to surrender their arms and turn a new leaf.

This comes as recent battles for supremacy among suspected cult groups in the communities have resulted into many deaths and destruction of property with thousands fleeing their homes.

Although, some of the youths have said that they were freedom fighters and not cultists, the state government has offered them an opportunity to start afresh.

The Egi clan of Ogba/Egbema/Ndoni Local Government Area in Rivers State has been in the eye of the storm and there also seems to be progress in the ongoing peace moves.

Traditional leaders and representatives of government have held a peace session which involved other members of the communities.

The meeting also involved the youths who have been the active players in the violence.

Meanwhile, the Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike, has also inaugurated the amnesty committee with the belief that accepting the amnesty must go beyond mere words.

The government has given 60 days to the committee to wrap up its exercise.

Wike Inaugurates Amnesty Programme Committee For Cultists

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Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike friday inaugurated the State Amnesty Programme and reiterated his warning that the state would not pay for arms surrendered by cultists and militants.

 The governor said the inauguration of the committee was a major move to restore peace across all communities in the state.

The committee has as members, representatives of the Nigerian Armed Forces, the Nigerian Police and the Department of State Services. The Special Adviser to the Governor on Amnesty, Sir Ken Chinda was appointed chairman.

In his inauguration speech, Wike charged the committee to interface with different cult groups for the purpose of retrieving arms from them.

The governor also charged the committee to work out modalities for ensuring the proper integration of cultists and militants who willingly subscribe to the amnesty programme.

He warned the committee members against promising repentant cultists and militants that the state government would pay for arms surrendered in the course of the programme.

He declared: “Anyone who has surrendered his arms and has followed through the process laid out for the amnesty will be pardoned. Such a person will not be prosecuted.

“This committee has 60 days to complete its assignment. After the 60 days, any cultist or militant who fails to subscribe to the amnesty programme will face the full weight of the law.”

The governor reiterated that the amnesty programme was not politically motivated, pointing out that it was designed to promote the security of all communities in the state.

Read More: thisdaylive

Presidential C’ttee Blames Niger Delta Militancy On Poor Implementation Of Amnesty Programme

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Following rising cases of militancy championed by the Niger Delta Avengers (NDA) and other armed struggles, the poor implementation of the Presidential Amnesty Programme (PAP) and proliferation of Small Arms and Lights Weapons (SALW) in the country have been identified are reasons responsible.

This was disclosed weekend in Abuja by the Chairman, Presidential Committee on Small Arms and Light Weapons (PRESCOM), Amb. Emmanuel Imohe, during the Inter –Ministerial Roundtable on the ATT in Nigeria organized in collaboration with West African Action Network on Small Arms and Light Weapons (WAANSA) and Control Arms Coalition.

Imohe raised alarm that Nigeria is awash with SALW and said that the implementation of the Amnesty programme was poorly carried out in that the militants might have returned knocked out weapons in exchange for funds with which some might have likely used to purchase more sophisticated arms. He said that while PAP initiative was a right move, but its execution did not align with the spirit and letter of its initiators.

He said: “Something is wrong with the implementation of the Amnesty Programme so that the spirit does not tally with the letter of the programme. There is no congruent in the two and I pray that as the things stands in the Niger Delta, government does not allow the crisis to degenerate further.

“Anybody who wants to resolve the security situations in this country must first of all mop up the weapons so that these groups do not have access to them. The country is awash with small arms and light weapons. So it is important for us as a country to put up a system that can help mop up the weapons in circulation.”.

Credit: vanguardngr

Northern Clerics Suggest Presidential Amnesty Programme For Boko Haram Terrorists

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Religious leaders under the auspices of Northern Inter-Faith and Religious Organisations of Nigeria (NIFROM) have urged the federal government to consider instituting a presidential amnesty programme to members of the Boko Haram sect operating in the northeast similar to that granted to former Niger Delta militants.

The group said in a statement signed by its coordinator, Bishop Musa Fomson, that following the success recorded by the amnesty programme in the Niger Delta, there was the need to replicate it in the northern part of the country currently ravaged by the Boko Haram insurgency.

He noted that even as the military made gains against the insurgents, the use of force alone might not be able to win the war against terrorism.

The Bishops specifically commended the efforts of the Special Adviser to the President on Niger Delta and Coordinator of the Programme, Brig. Gen. Paul Boroh (rtd.), especially in the management of funds.

They expressed pleasure that the office has already trained 17,322 of the beneficiaries, leaving a balance of 12,678, while embarking on the domestication of its programmes.

“Since taking over the amnesty program, Boroh has restored hope to many of the agitators. We believe that with such confidence in a man who can be trusted, such program can be replicated in the troubled northern part of the country,” he said.

Credit: Thisday

Presidential Amnesty Programme Has Achieved Its Mandate – Boroh

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The Coordinator of Presidential Amnesty Programme, retired Brig.-Gen Paul Boroh, said it had stabilised the relatively volatile Niger Delta through its various interventions.

 

Boroh, who is also the Special Adviser to the President on Niger Delta, said this while briefing newsmen in Abuja on Wednesday.

 

According to him, the Amnesty Office has achieved successes in the ongoing phased re-integration of the amnesty programme which includes the empowerment of 2,500 ex-agitators and full employment for 400 others.

 

He said the amnesty office engaged 78 vendors on Dec. 4, 2015 to empower additional 1,225 amnesty beneficiaries.

 

Boroh said this empowerment would lead to the exit of the beneficiaries from the programme and the Federal Government would be able to save N955.5 million annually it used to pay as stipends.

 

He said that those who had been trained and empowered would create employment opportunities in the Niger Delta.

The coordinator said that his office recently carried out verification to ascertain the exact number of beneficiaries of its scholarship.

“This is to examine its success and streamline the scheme in line with the re-integration stage of the amnesty programme’’, he said.

 

Boroh said 3,849 students in 22 countries were to be screened, while 2,789 students in 28 institutions of higher learning in Nigeria would also undergo screening.

 

According to him, the Scholarship Scheme is part of the human capacity building development project under the amnesty programme with 30,000 beneficiaries.

 

The coordinator said the amnesty programme was a unique window of opportunity to bring peace, stability and economic development to the nine oil producing states in the region.

 

”The amnesty programme is one of the major reasons for the reduction of kidnapping, oil bunkering and other vices in the region”, he said.

 

(NAN)

Amnesty Programme To Exit 3,232 Beneficiaries

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The Presidential Amnesty Programme has announced plans to exit 3,232 beneficiaries from the programme.

Those billed to leave the programme are those who have been trained as entrepreneurs and have received business and setup/ starter packs.

Also affected are all beneficiaries of the Oil and Gas International Foundation (OGIF) programme and the 400 whom the office had secured employment for.

The spokesman of the amnesty programme, Owei Lakemfa, said in a statement that by exiting the 3,232 beneficiaries, the Federal Government would save 2.52 billion Naira from stipend payments.

The statement also disclosed that the Special Adviser to President Muhammadu Buhari on Niger Delta and Coordinator of the Presidential Amnesty Programme, Brigadier General Paul Boroh (Rtd), had set up a task force to work out and implement the exit strategy of the amnesty programme with timelines that would not compromise national security.

Credit: ChannelsTv

President Buhari Vows Commitment To Niger-Delta Amnesty Programme

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President Muhammadu Buhari has pledged commitment to prosecuting the amnesty programme in the Niger-Delta with vigour, to bringing about lasting peace and stability in the area.

This is contained in a statement on Thursday in Abuja by Mr Ohi Alegbe, Group General Manager, Group Public Affairs Department, Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC).

The statement explained that Dr Jamila Shu’ara, Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Petroleum Resources, stated this while delivering Buhari’s message at the ongoing 167th Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) International Seminar in Vienna, Austria.

She said the president was also committed to ensuring stability in other parts of Nigeria, thus making the operational environment safe and attractive once again.

“Nigeria is committed to tackling corruption, especially in the extractive industry.

“The country will strive to bring back transparency and accountability in public life, especially in the petroleum industry which is the mainstay of national economy,’’ she said.

Read More: Vanguard

Ijaw Youths Want Amnesty Programme Extended

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The Ijaw Youth Council, IYC, has expressed mixed feelings and concerns over the inaugural address of President Muhammadu Buhari in relation to the Niger Delta region.

According to a statement issued by Eric Omare, the spokesman of IYC, and made available to journalists in Yenagoa on Sunday, there is need to review the terminal date of the Amnesty Programme to accommodate those who are yet to complete the scheme. “President Muhammadu Buhari in his speech said that the amnesty programme for ex-Niger Delta agitators would end by December 2015.

“The IYC appreciates the fact that the amnesty programme cannot continue forever and therefore must have a terminal date.

“However, the questions on the lips of beneficiaries and stakeholders in the Niger Delta region are: what would happen to those that have not been trained at as December 2015.

“And what about those still undergoing training or have not completed their training?”

Mr. Omare said that the termination of the programme would throw up challenges for beneficiaries of the programme who were still undergoing training and were at different level of training.

The IYC spokesman said the group expected the Federal Government to allay fears of beneficiaries who were in different parts of the world and were worried that their trainings might be affected if the programme was terminated in December 2015.

He added that the case of substantial number of ex-agitators who had not been trained was even more worrisome. He, therefore, appealed to the Federal Government to address challenges before the programme was terminated.

On streamlining projects and programmes in the Niger Delta region to make them more effective, IYC said it would support any step of the Federal Government to strengthen institutions responsible for the development of the Niger Delta region.

The group applauded the planned streamlining of policies to rapidly develop the region. “We, however, wish to advice that any effort toward restructuring developmental institutions and projects should have the input of the people of the region at the heart of the process.

“The people of the Niger Delta must be the ones to decide the shape of developmental institutions in the region.’’

The IYC said it had expected President Buhari to address issues such as cleaning up of the Niger Delta environment, implementation of the UNEP report on Ogoni.

He added that also left out of the inaugural address was the menace of oil theft which had greatly contributed to environmental degradation in the Niger Delta region, which Mr. Buhari promised to tackle during the presidential campaigns.

Credit: NAN

Yoruba Group Begs Buhari Not To Scrap Amnesty Programme

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The National Committee of Yoruba Youths on Thursday urged the President-elect, Muhammadu Buhari, to continue with the amnesty programme for ex-militants in the Niger Delta Region.

This was contained in a statement issued by the President of the group, Oladimeji Odeyemi, in Ibadan. The statement said calls for the discontinuation of the programme were unfortunate.

Mr. Odeyemi said dozens of youth from the region had been transformed through the amnesty programme and were doing well in the society.

Mr. Odeyemi urged Mr. Buhari to sustain the tempo? of the Presidential Amnesty Programme and continue with its funding to avoid another youth restiveness.

According to him, with the successful implementation of the amnesty programme, Nigeria’s crude oil production hovers between 2.2 million barrels and 2.4million barrels per day. “We call on the incoming administration to sustain the tempo of the Presidential Amnesty Programme and continue with its funding.

“The outgoing Presidential Amnesty Programme Chairman and Special Adviser to the President on Niger Delta Affairs, Kingsley Kuku, and his team have turned the amnesty programme into a model to evaluate performance and service delivery.

“The amnesty programme in just four years has succeeded in training both locally and offshore, about 20,000 youths out of the 30,000 beneficiaries enlisted in the scheme,’’ he said.

Mr. Odeyemi said the feat had produced trained manpower to provide services in the oil and gas, power, maritime, agro-allied and the aviation industries in the country.

“As at today, almost 20,000 of these beneficiaries are in various institutions abroad while significant numbers are schooling in some of our best private universities in the country.

“When these youths are fortified with skills, the Niger Delta and, indeed, Nigeria will not depend on crude oil alone as its source of income,’’ Mr. Odeyemi said.

Credit: NAN

Ignore Those Advocating Scrap Of Amnesty Programme, Ex Militant To Buhari

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President-elect, General Muhammadu Buhari, and the leadership of the All Progressives Congress, APC, has been urged to ignore calls by some mischief makers to scrap the Presidential Amnesty Programme.

This call was made by former Niger Delta militants coming under the aegis of Leadership, Peace and Cultural Development Initiative, LPCDI.

The repentant militants spoke on the heels of calls by prominent businessman in the region, , and others questioning the rationale for sustenance of the programme.

They asserted that such call was in bad faith and utterly misguided.

National President of LPCDI, Pastor Reuben Wilson, who spoke on Wednesday, described Emami’s call on Buhari to scrap the amnesty programme as one which was premised on his “pathological hatred for the Ijaw nationality.”

He stressed that it was also based on his misconceived idea that the Ijaws were the major beneficiaries of the amnesty programme, but argued that the programme was for all Niger Delta ex-militants.

Read More: dailypost