Group threatens lockdown of Niger Delta over alleged marginalisation

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A group known as the Niger Delta Volunteers for Good Governance (NDVFGG), has threatened “a total lockdown of economic activities” within the Niger Delta region over what it termed as the marginalisation of Edo and Delta States in the appointment of principal officers into the Presidential Amnesty Programme (PAP).

The group, which also condemned the planned winding up of the PAP by the Federal Government, described the proposed action as untimely and advised the government to rather re-strategise with a view to accomplishing the spirit of the initiators of the programme considering the achievements it had recorded so far.

A statement signed by the National President of the group, Comrade Ben Bowei a.k.a Lord Mayor 1 of Niger Delta, and coordinators from Edo, Delta, Bayelsa, Rivers, Ondo States, and made available to newsmen in Benin on Tuesday, NDVFGG frowned at the neglect of Edo and Delta States in the appointment of a coordinator for the programme and other principal officers since its inception.

The group alleged that outside denials of the states in the appointment of principal officers, applicants from the two states for vocational training and scholarship had been several times rejected.

“The Niger Delta Volunteers for Good Governance (NDVFGG) has observed that there has been a deliberate neglect of qualified indigenes of Edo and Delta States in the area of appointment as co-ordinator and/or other principal staff in the Presidential Amnesty Program office from inception till date.

“It is our collective resolution that the above-listed states have been totally neglected by the Federal Government in the scheme of things, especially in the area of appointment in the PAP office since the disarmament in 2009.

“It is also a truism that the above states have also suffered similar fates in the area of reintegration and empowerment contrary to the spirit and letters of the Presidential Amnesty Program as constituted by His Excellency Late Former President Musa Yaradua in 2009.

“The marginalization of these states has left a distasteful taste in the mouths of the ex-agitators and impacted communities because delegates who applied for vocational training in the program are often rejected and the same position applies to those who applied for a scholarship to acquire Higher Education at the tertiary level.

“As a matter of fact, such persons are extorted and not given equal opportunities and a level playing field by the office representing the government.

“For this, the Niger Delta Volunteers for Good Governance is collaborating with sister organizations in setting out modalities to ensure there is equity, fairness, transparency and justice in the composition of the new board and distribution of positions to reflect effective and equal participation in the office; otherwise it will call for a total lockdown of economic activities within the Niger Delta region which may also lead to breach of public peace to press home our demands,” the group added.

The group, therefore, called on the Federal Government, “to as a matter of urgency, consider the plights of these states in order to forestall break down of law and order and breach of the peace in line with true intents and letters of the PAP agreement. A stitch in time saves nine.”

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