PAP crisis: We’ll continue to speak truth, ex-agitators reply Ndiomu

Charles Kurobo, the Chairman of the First Phase Ex-Agitator’s Leadership Forum in Bayelsa State, has stated that despite recent threats from the Interim Administrator of the Presidential Amnesty Programme (PAP), Maj. Gen. Barry Ndiomu (rtd), aggrieved beneficiaries of the amnesty program will continue to speak out until the issues of misappropriation plaguing the program are exposed.

Kurobo made these remarks in Yenagoa while responding to a statement in which the PAP Interim Administrator warned that those who are duly registered as PAP beneficiaries and are spreading false narratives against him and the amnesty office will face consequences in accordance with the existing laws of the program.

Kurobo further explained that the inquiries made by ex-agitators into the irregularities of the amnesty program are not intended to witch-hunt any individual, as the PAP Interim Administrator portrays it. Instead, the aim is to draw the attention of relevant authorities to the denial of vital information to ex-agitators, which hinders their economic integration and their ability to develop their potential for employment generation.

He also alleged that if it weren’t for the support of monarchs from the Niger Delta region, who should be catalysts for human capital and social development in the area, Ndiomu would not have chosen to issue threats to well-meaning beneficiaries of the program who genuinely contribute ideas on how to improve and achieve the program’s mandates.

Kurobo stated, “We will continue to express our concerns as much as possible until attention is given to the precarious nature and style of the current administration of the PAP. Our inquiries are not ill-intended, despite what the PAP implies, but their unexpected defences leave us bewildered.”

“They deny us access to vital information regarding economic integration and the reasons why we still lack the potential for employment and the development of technological knowledge as promised by the program when we disarmed in 2009.”

“We cannot be silenced, even if a serving or retired military general is involved. We have complained about misappropriation, denial of benefits, and the need for necessary reviews, but the Interim Administrator of the PAP is quick to question the integrity and credibility of Nigerian banks.”

“Even though we all know that it is impossible to operate two accounts without linking them to a single BVN. Even if there is just a missing alphabet in any of the details linked to a BVN, it cannot be achieved.”

“These challenges make the leadership of the ex-agitators forum burdened. We have to manage those who have been denied training, empowerment, and recently, monthly stipends. They are always pressuring us day and night. And in most cases, they don’t believe us when we say that the PAP has turned a deaf ear to our pleas.”

“But the best way forward is through peaceful resolution, and we will continue on that path. We have waited and waited, but the disconnect between the Amnesty office, its coordinator, and the ex-agitators leadership is widening with each passing day. Sadly, kings from the region, who should be catalysts for human capital and social development in the Niger Delta, have chosen to support him.”

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