Ex-militant Leader Accuses FG of Reneging on Promise of Oil Blocks to N’Delta Warlords

Emmanuel Addeh

A popular ex-militants’ commander in the Niger Delta, Reuben Wilson, aka, General Pastor, yesterday narrated how the Federal Government under the late President Umar Yar’Adua failed to fulfil its pledge to allocate oil wells to the former fighters.

Wilson, who now leads the Leadership, Peace, Cultural and Development Initiative (LPCDI), comprising a majority of the first phase leaders of ex-Niger Delta militants, said the late President made the promise during the first ever meeting with 32 militants in the heyday of the Niger Delta crisis.

The former militants’ leader, who spoke in Yenagoa, Bayelsa State, maintained that aside the promise of oil blocs, the federal government also vowed to provide them accommodation in any part of Nigeria that they chose to live.

He added that part of the enticement for renouncing militancy used by the government was a pledge to give the ex-militants tight security since their activities may have offended certain interests.

However, Wilson claimed that the federal government has not provided much of what it promised, insisting that the ex-leaders have been treated unfairly since the amnesty programme began.

According to him, all the discussions they had with the government concerning their benefits before embracing the presidential amnesty programme had yet to be implemented.

He regretted the current arrangement whereby leaders receive only N65,000 monthly stipends as the other boys (their foot soldiers), asserting that the amnesty programme had been poorly managed.

‘’I was one of the first few persons the late President Umaru Yar’Adua invited before the commencement of amnesty. So, the programme happened before my very eyes. We were 32 leaders that were invited at first and we went to Abuja, met with the then President and discussed.

‘’But the truth remains that all the things we discussed concerning benefits for ex-leaders have not been implemented till now.

‘’The key things were that the federal government promised training for the people who were willing to learn, promised training and empowerment for those to undergo craft and promised to treat the leaders well so that they would not regret renouncing militancy.

‘’The then President (Yar’Adua) noted that while we were in the creeks, we might have offended a lot of people with our activities. So, he promised us adequate security in order to prevent those aggrieved persons from taking revenge”, he alleged.