Terminate amnesty programme, risk consequences in Niger Delta, IYC tells FG

THE Ijaw Youth Council (IYC) has warned the Federal Government against alleged moves to jettison the amnesty programme, saying it will draw dire consequences.

President, IYC worldwide, Pereotubo Oweilaemi, in a statement signed and made available to Sunday Tribune on Saturday, gave the warning.

He said the Ijaw youths body has been “reliably informed that there are clandestine moves by players within the corridors of power at the Presidency to terminate the Presidential Amnesty Programme.

“The move by the enemies of peace, if it materialises, will be viewed as an ethnophobic propensity of the present government against the Niger Delta people.”

Oweilaemi recalled how the late former President Umaru Yar’Adua came up with the programme and the terms of reference guiding it.

According to him, “in case the plotters of the plot fail to know, the amnesty programme is a mutual agreement between the Federal Government of Nigeria and the Niger Delta people.

“The bargain is for the agitators to lay down their arms to accept the offer of Presidential Amnesty which has hitherto outlined terms and conditions to be complied with by both sides.

“The amnesty programme is a well-thought-out developmental programme of the then government of late President Yar’Adua with different segments.

“The programme was phased into three segments which are disarmament, demobilisation and reintegration for the first segment; rehabilitation for the second segment and Strategic Implementation Work Plan (SIWP) for the third segment.

“Granted that the first segment has successfully been carried out, we are still at the second segment which is the rehabilitation process.

“Engaging the youths on vocational training or sending people to school as well as the empowerment programmes are all part of the rehabilitation processes.

“There is no time limit as to when the programme will be terminated, especially when all the segments have not been executed.

“The third phase has not been attended to which is strictly for the massive development of the region.

“None of the developmental master plans initiated in the programme has been implemented.”

The IYC leader further lamented unfulfilled promises to develop the Niger Delta with infrastructure, saying the agreement the region had with the Federal Government was beyond the monthly stipend N56,000 being paid ex-militants who embraced peace.

“Where is the N1.5 trillion Coastal Highway already awarded before Yar’Adua’s death in 2009? What about the East-West road which is now abandoned by this present government?

“What about the Federal Government, multinational oil companies and private sector’s tripartite agreement to massively develop the riverine communities which was duly incorporated in the amnesty offer?

“The agitators did not accept the amnesty offer simply because they agreed to be paid N56,000 for a period of time. May we remind those in government to check their records. At the first meeting between the top echelons of the Niger Delta freedom fighters and the late Yar’Adua which heralded the smooth kick-off of the Amnesty Programme, the agitators tabled their demands to Yar’Adua who said that he would not disappoint the Niger Delta people.

“All terms and conditions discussed in that meeting were documented by the Federal Government and they formed part of the Amnesty Programme.

“The government has not fulfilled its own part of the bargain since the boys laid down their arms for oil to flow freely into the nation’s coffer,” he stated.

Oweilaemi reiterated that any attempt to discontinue the programme, “without fulfilling the conditions stated therein, is a breach of trust and agreement and it cannot go without dire consequences.

“The world is watching us. Niger Delta crisis is a global issue. This was the reason the agitators had earlier insisted that they wanted United Nations (UN) representatives to witness the truce.

“People should not pursue personal ambition to endanger the corporate existence of Nigeria. We hope that Niger Delta people will not be blamed for any breakdown of law and order.

“Let us be wary of our actions, lest we will jeopardise our corporate coexistence,” the group warned.