Over ten thousand ex-militants and their followers drawn from the nine Niger Delta states today barricaded the Mbiama section of the East-West road to demand the reinstatement of about 7000 beneficiaries that were purportedly delisted from Presidential Amnesty Programme (PAP) and payment of 14 months outstanding monthly allowances.
Nigerian Tribune which was on the ground to monitor the situation, learnt that the protesting ex-militants also called for the immediate sack of the Coordinator of (PAP), Major General Barry Tariye Ndiomu, accusing him of being incompetent to handle the Presidential Amnesty Programme that has roughly peace to the Niger Delta region.
The protest which caused traffic gridlock, frustrating and trapping travellers for several hours, is said to be against the Federal Government’s decision to prevent duplication of names in the database and delist individuals who have over the years changed their names multiple times with multiple or single BVN in order to defraud the programme.
Giving further insight in a statement issued in Yenagoa, the Interim Administrator of the PAP, said that his office as an organisation cannot be seen to condone fraudulent practices perpetrated by some ex-militants and their collaborators in the agency.
He noted that there are situations whereby an individual was collecting the stipends meant for 10 to 33 persons every month.
He said the situation is so bad that it has become increasingly difficult for PAP to meet its obligations and commitments to its contractors and students on scholarship.
He noted the forensic audit he initiated also discovered that some delegates under training have been collecting both training allowances and the monthly stipends
Other beneficiaries who have undergone training and empowerment are still on the database receiving stipends instead of exiting from the programme.
Ndiomu stated also that some delegates on the bulk payment scheme are equally collecting the monthly stipends, which is besides other forms of fraud in the system
He said, no Administrator worth his calling will tolerate such mammoth malfeasance under his watch adding that as a lawyer he would not condone such evil.
He appealed to the ex-agitators and other interest groups in the region to buy into his structured plan to redefine the programme and to ensure sanity and accountability in the amnesty Programme.
He has assured those with clean records to contact the information centre of the agency for the needed correction.
He reiterated the fact that the ongoing audit is not intended to witch-hunt any individual or group of persons but is instituted to sanitize the system in the interest of the ex-agitators who have been short-changed by their counterparts.
Very soon, he said, the ex-agitators will experience a new lease of life because of the innovation he is set to introduce in the days ahead Ndiomu remarked that the delegates will be architects of the destiny in the new system.
In the same vein, the governor of Bayelsa State, Senator Douye Diri, has also called on the Federal Government and Niger Deltans not to engage in acts that would end the program as it contributes significantly to the peace and security of the Niger Delta region.
According to him, “the best thing to give to the Niger Delta is to support the programme and keep it going as it has recorded some level of success in spite of the challenges.”
While congratulating Maj Gen Ndiomu on his appointment, Senator Diri urged him to write his name in gold as he had the capacity to ensure that Niger Delta youths benefit from the programme.
He tasked the new PAP boss with infrastructure development and award of scholarships to deserving youths as well as urging the federal government to relocate the headquarters of the programme to Bayelsa as the state had made land available for it.
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