Ex-Militants Laud FG for reversing its decision to end the amnesty program.

President Muhammadu Buhari has been praised for overturning the decision to end the Presidential Amnesty Programme (PAP) in the Niger Delta, according to a group of ex-militant leaders operating under the banner of the Niger Delta Ex-Agitators Forum (NDEF).

Additionally, they expressed gratitude to the federal government for paying attention to numerous important regional stakeholders who were vehemently opposed to the idea to wind down the PAP.

In a statement issued by the group and signed in Yenagoa, the capital of Bayelsa State, by Edward Youdiowei, Patrick Tebegba, and the National Public Relations Officer, Ayabowei Godgift, the group also praised Maj-Gen. For their continued efforts to assess and implement concrete adjustments in the amnesty program, we thank Major General Barry Tariye Ndiomu (rtd), Interim Administrator of the PAP, and Mohammed Babagana Monguno (rtd).

“We praise Ndiomu for his approach to sustain the programme with new energy and initiatives set out to recalibrate it into a more robust and efficient agency,” the group claims, despite the dissenting voices against the continuing adjustments in the program.

They pointed out that a cooperative scheme with a seed fund of N500 million to various phases of the beneficiaries has been introduced under Ndiomu leadership as the interim administrator of PAP, and urged beneficiaries to sheath their swords of persistent agitations against the coordinator of the amnesty program which can further derail its course.

“As the key participants in the Amnesty programme, we appeal on all concerned Niger Deltans to maintain the calm in the area and assist the new administration in reforming, refocusing, and repositioning the programme for maximum effectiveness,” the group stated.

The Bayelsa State liaison office, led by Dame Esther Boroh, is open to receiving all concerns. “We ask the people of the Niger Delta region and beneficiaries to stop from regular media attack and blackmail on the image of the coordinator of the initiative,” the statement reads.

The organization urged Ndiomu to collaborate with different leaders and stakeholders for a smooth and amicable verification exercise and clearance of a backlog of unpaid stipends and scholarships to 1,714 ex-militants.