We’re Fast Winding Down Amnesty Programme, Says FG

Says 92% of offshore students have completed courses

Ndubuisi Francis

The federal government stated yesterday that the Presidential Amnesty Programme (PAP) for Niger Delta was fast winding down, but would not give a timeline on when the disarmament, demobilisation and rehabilitation (DDR) programme comes to an end.

The late President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua declared amnesty for ex-militants in October 2009, culminating in the enrollment of 30,000 former agitators in the PAP.

The Special Adviser to the President and Coordinator of PAP, Brig-Gen. Paul Boroh, who provided an update on the activities of the programme at a media parley in Abuja, stated that it was fast winding down.

To buttress his position, Boroh disclosed that 92 per cent of PAP beneficiaries schooling abroad had completed their courses and returned home, adding that a similar situation also obtains for those schooling at home.

Boroh however noted that while the federal government was desirous of winding down the programme, it would do so with utmost circumspection in view of the security and other implications of making a mistake in the process.

The presidential aide likened the PAP to someone holding a raw egg, adding that a fall would lead to the breaking of such an egg.

‘We are desirous of winding down the programme as fast as possible, but we are being careful so that we don’t make mistakes, “Boroh said.

According to him, the Amnesty Office had intensified its empowerment drive to ensure that those who enrolled in the programme are gainfully employed, particularly in agriculture.

Giving further insight, he stated that the beneficiaries of the programme in the nine states of the Niger Delta region were being empowered in aqua culture ( fish farming), poultry, rice farming and sundry selfemploying trades.

He noted that in collaboration with strategic stakeholders, the Amnesty Office had been able to achieve peace in the region, and would stop at nothing to ensure sustenance.

Boroh noted that beneficiaries of the amnesty programme had remained law-abiding, stressing that some elements in the region with the penchant to stoke violence were being taken care of by relevant law enforcement agencies.

The Presidential aide stated that his ultimate goal was to see the programme to a successful end soonest, with the last beneficiary empowered.