Ex-IYC President appeals to FG not to scrap amnesty programme
(Nigeria) Dr Chris Ekiyor, former President, Ijaw Youth
Council, has appealed to the Federal Government not to scrap the amnesty
programme in 2016.
Ekiyor said on Thursday in Port Harcourt that the action
could ``lure the ex-militants into temptation.’’
He urged the government to take a holistic view of what the
programme had achieved since its inception and what could happen if it was
scrapped.
``If the federal government says it has successfully
implemented the amnesty programme, how has it impacted on the beneficiaries? Is
it by the monthly stipends they receive?
``Out of the 30,000 ex-militants pencilled for training by
the federal government, less than 15,000 have been trained; is the government
going to abandon the remaining 15,000? The initial design of the programme was to empower the
beneficiaries and make them economically viable,`` he said.
Ekiyor said that some of the beneficiaries, who were still
undergoing training at home and abroad, would be abandoned in their various
institutions if the government stops funding the programme.
He urged the government to take urgent measures to keep the
ex-militants busy instead of scrapping the programme.
He said that though the programme was expensive, the
inherent security crises that might likely accompany its scrapping could be
costlier than the cost of the programme.
``The peace being enjoyed in the Niger Delta by former
President Musa Yar'adua's amnesty programme is unprecedented.
``It is only when the region is at peace that the
multinational oil companies can operate. As much as I believe that the programme will end some day,
it should not end abruptly in the interest of peace," Ekiyor said.
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