Preye Ekpebide, Delta State chairman of Phase Three amnesty programme on Tuesday urged the federal government to extend the amnesty programme beyond 2015 in order to continue to enjoy the recent peace being experienced in the region.
Niger Delta Ex- Militants
The ex-militant leader also appealed to the Federal Government to heed the advice of Senator James Manager, who advocated that the programme should be extended.
Ekpebide, went ahead to point out that the current increase in the country’s oil production, which is the main revenue source of the country’s economy is because of the declaration of the amnesty programme. He said the Federal Government and Nigerians should be thankful to the ex-war lords for laying down their arms.
“Due to the vastness of the Niger Delta, it was quite impossible for the Federal Government to develop the region within the stated period of the amnesty, but to sustain the peace in the region alongside development, the amnesty needs to continue beyond 2015″ he said. “Senator Manager, being an indigene of the region and in his position as the Senate Committee Chairman on the Niger Delta, has a better knowledge of the region and for him to call for the extension of the amnesty programme speaks volumes for Nigeria. We called on the state governors of the region to appeal to President Goodluck Jonathan to listen to the people of the region and allow the programme to continue until the reasons for the Niger Delta struggle are fully realised.”
It would be recalled that on Monday, Chairman of the Senate Committee on Niger Delta Development Commission, Senator James Manager, who is representing Delta South in the upper chamber asserted that any plan to scrap the Amnesty Programme for ex-militants, will end the continued existence of Nigeria as a nation.
Meanwhile, some people have been clamouring for the scrapping of the programme because of the huge funds they claimed, the federal government was spending in executing it.
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