Vehicular movement and commercial
activities were disrupted along the busy
East-West (Warri-Port Harcourt)
highway when some ex-militants trooped
on to the road at about 7 am yesterday
to protest the non-payment of their
allowances by the Coordinator of the
Presidential Amnesty Office and Special
Adviser on Niger Delta, Mr. Kingsley
Kuku.
The protesters led by the Bayelsa State
Third Phase Amnesty Chairman, Mr. Ebi
John, were said to have taken over the
road, obstructing the free flow of traffic.
Travellers and commuters were stranded
as the ex-militants chanted war songs
demanding that Kuku pays them without
further delay.
Shortly after they barricaded the road,
military patrol vans and two Armoured
Personnel Carriers (APCs) driven by
armed soldiers were said to have
swooped in on the ex-militants.
The soldiers were said to have shot into
the air many times to dispel the
protesters from the road, resulting in a
stampede.
As the stand off between the soldiers
and the youths ensued, some members of
the Bayelsa State Working Committee of
the All Progressives Congress (APC) led
by the state chairman of the party, Mr.
Tiwe Oruminighe, rushed to the scene.
Oruminighe assembled the protesters
and appealed to them to leave the road
to avoid violence and bloodshed.
He said blocking the road was not a
solution to their plight and promised
that the leadership of APC in the state
would seek to resolve the issues.
He said the new federal government led
by President Muhammadu Buhari was
genuinely concerned about the problems
of the Niger Delta region and should be
given time to solve them.
“We came here to talk with you to leave
the road. It is a federal road and does
not belong to Bayelsa State. If you block
that road, you are not helping the
government at the centre, which has
come to create wealth for us.
“As brothers, I want you to understand
that we need to join hands together to
give some time to the government to
create what we want.
“We have some notable sons and
daughters that are already in this
government such as Timipre Sylva,
Rotimi Amaechi, Adams Oshiomhole and
many others who will be taking our
matter to the president.
“I want to promise you that your matter
will be taken to the highest level and will
be addressed in the shortest possible
time,” he said.
But the Association of Presidential
Amnesty Programme Vendors (APAV)
accused the Accountant-General of the
Federation (AGF) and some staff of the
Amnesty Office of delaying the payment
of their allowances and scholarship
funding for the ex-militants being
trained under the programme.
According to the association, though the
Presidential Amnesty Office under the
leadership of Kuku had pleaded with the
ex-militants on overseas training and at
home to remain calm, preliminary
investigations showed that the delayed
payments was caused by sabotage by key
personnel and staff of the Presidential
Amnesty Office.
In a statement issued yesterday by its
Chairman, Dr. Amgbakuromor Youbeni,
the group alleged that preliminary
investigations had shown that the delay
in payment of allowances was caused by
Mr. Ayoola Peters, Director of Finance
and Accounts, and the Deputy Director
of Procurement in the Amnesty Office.
“These persons have deliberately stayed
away from work for the past two
months, thereby frustrating the efforts of
the Amnesty Office to settle outstanding
payments to ex-militant youths and
scholarship students worldwide.
“These people have deliberately stayed
away from the office in order to
frustrate and sabotage the efforts of
Kingsley Kuku to ensure the proper
training and welfare of amnesty trainees
located across the globe,” the association
claimed.
It said the situation was causing untold
hardship and suffering for thousands of
young Niger Delta students around the
world, many of whom have been stopped
or about to be stopped from attending
classes due to non-payment of their
tuition fees, “while some are being
evicted from their accommodation due to
non-payment”.
“We have discovered that Mr. Ayoola
Peters is conniving with the Accountant-
General of the Federation (AGF) to
deliberately delay the May allocation to
the Amnesty Office, so that he and other
senior directors will sign off and
disburse the funds as they deem fit when
Kingsley Kuku leaves office.
“In view of the sensitive nature and the
national security challenges of the Niger
Delta Amnesty Programme, the
Presidential Amnesty Programme
Vendors Association led by Dr.
Amgbakuromor Youbeni wish to call on
President Buhari to allow Kingsley Kuku
to continue running the affairs of the
office pending the nomination of his
successor,” the group said.
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