Amnesty Office warns beneficiaries against violence

The Presidential Amnesty Office has warned beneficiaries of amnesty programme of government to steer clear of violence in Niger Delta region and the country as a whole.

It warned that any beneficiary of the programme that took part in any violent action should know that he would be violating the oath he took to end violence which earned him the Presidential Amnesty in the first place.

Special Adviser to the President on Niger Delta and Coordinator of the Presidential Amnesty Programme, Brigadier General Paul Boroh (Rtd), who handed down the warning, insisted that any beneficiary who got involved in violence would be exited from the programme and his monthly stipend stopped, even as he would also be prosecuted.

The amnesty coordinator appealed to all leaders of the ex-agitators to exercise control over the beneficiaries under their leadership and warned that where a leader was found to be complicit in violence, apart from him, his team might equally face sanctions.

He expressed sadness over the circle of violence springing up in Rivers State which he observed became more pronounced with the re-run elections in the state slated for December 10, 2016.

Boroh stated that such violence portended danger to the electoral and governance system in the country and gravely undermined the peace-building efforts of the government.

He appealed to politicians to keep the peace and leave out the beneficiaries if they planned to foment crisis in the state.

Boroh also advised youths and ex-agitators not to allow themselves to be used for violence.