The Niger Delta Volunteers has issued a 21-day ultimatum to the Presidential Amnesty Office to address injustices allegedly meted out to repentant militants in Akwa Ibom state.
The NDV alleged that ex-agitators who were enlisted and properly documented as beneficiaries of the Presidential Amnesty Programme have not been benefiting from monthly stipends and trainings.
They threatened to embark on a mass action in Akwa Ibom state and other locations in the region if their complaints are not addressed.
This was contained in a statement signed by the group’s leader, Gen Ekpo Ekpo and the director of information and communications, Major Gen Henry Okon Etete and made available to our correspondent in Uyo.
In the statement, they alleged that ex-agitators from the state are treated as inferior to their counterparts in other Niger Delta states.
The statement reads in parts, “The Presidential Amnesty Office is supposed to be a rallying point for all the ex-militants in the Niger Delta but surprisingly, Akwa Ibom State beneficiaries have been singled out and made to face undue hardship as a result of this sheer oppression against us by the Presidential Amnesty Office over the years.
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“It is unfortunate to state here that the Presidential Amnesty beneficiaries from Akwa Ibom State have been singled out to suffer untold marginalization and oppression ranging from diversion of their monthly stipends, outright stoppage of monthly stipends without reason.
“There hasn’t been any empowerment of any beneficiary from the state amongst other injustices. It is therefore pertinent to state that these injustices against Akwa Ibom beneficiaries enlisted into the Presidential Amnesty Programme has reached the highest point and would therefore be fiercely resisted by any means necessary.
“It is sad to note that beneficiaries from other Niger Delta states have been sent to study in the Oil & Gas and other related fields overseas while Akwa Ibom State beneficiaries are asked to go and learn poultry and fish farming in their localities. This is totally unacceptable and would henceforth be resisted.
“It is common knowledge that the Presidential Amnesty Office stopped the payment of monthly stipends to twenty-two (22) out of forty-six (46) beneficiaries of Ukanafun Freedom Fighters since 2010.few months after enrolment. Several efforts has been made to ensure that the twenty-two (22) beneficiaries are paid but to no avail.
“It is unfortunate to state that even the leadership empowerment contracts always awarded by the Presidential Amnesty Office to camp leaders are also done without any Akwa Ibom State Camp Leader, neither do they normally invite any Camp Leader from Akwa Ibom State to stakeholders meetings organized by the Amnesty Office, this is tactically done in order to conceal useful information while continuing in their fraudulent activities for the reasons best known to them”.
“We call on the National Security Adviser (NSA), Director General-Department of State Services and the Inspector-General of Police (IGP) to take this as a notice that we will embark on mass action in Akwa Ibom State and other locations within the Niger Delta region if the Presidential Amnesty Office fails to address all these issues”, the statement added.
