Presidency empowers 150 ex-militants

One hundred and fifty former Niger Delta militants were yesterday empowered with starter packs by the Presidential Amnesty Office at the amnesty training centre at Orubiri in Kolokuma /Opokuma Local Government Area of Bayelsa State.

The beneficiaries, drawn from Bayelsa, Delta and Rivers States, received items such as refrigerators, generators, gas cookers, and other equipment that would help them operate catering businesses

The Special Adviser to the President on Niger Delta Amnesty, Charles Peter Dokubo, said: “The programme is to ensure that our people are empowered and make them lay their hands on meaningful ventures, my purpose for this programme is that everybody in Niger Delta who are enlisted in this programme will be empowered, but my plea for them is to make good use of this opportunity because they may not have this privilege again.”

He noted that the Federal Government set up the Presidential Committee on Amnesty and Disarmament of Militants in the Niger Delta Region to design a framework, demobilize, rehabilitate and reoriented the ex-militants.

Speaking on behalf of the ex-militants, Ebikaki Desiye, commended the federal government for the opportunity given to them and promised to use the starter pack to better lives and contribute meaningfully to the society.

He also appealed to the presidential amnesty office to enlist more of the ex-agitators into the programme.