Ex-IYC leader to Buhari: Don’t scrap amnesty programme

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Niger Delta ex-militants: FG approves training in ICT, agriculture
Dr Chris Ekiyor, former President, Ijaw Youth Council, has appealed to the Federal Government not to scrap the amnesty programme in 2016.
Ekiyor told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Thursday in Port Harcourt that the action could “lure the ex-militants into temptation.”
He urged the government to take a holistic view of what the programme had achieved since its inception and what could happen if it was scrapped.
“If the Federal Government says it has successfully implemented the amnesty programme, how has it impacted on the beneficiaries?
“Is it by the monthly stipends they receive?
“Out of the 30,000 ex-militants pencilled for training by the federal government, less than 15,000 have been trained; is the government going to abandon the remaining 15,000?
“The initial design of the programme was to empower the beneficiaries and make them economically self-reliant,“ he said.
Ekiyor said that some of the beneficiaries, who were still undergoing training at home and abroad, would be abandoned in their various institutions if the government stops funding the programme.
He urged the government to take urgent measures to keep the ex-militants busy instead of scrapping the programme.
He said that though the programme was expensive, the inherent security crises that might likely accompany its scrapping could be costlier than the cost of the programme.
“The peace enjoyed in the Niger Delta by former President Musa Yar’Adua’s amnesty programme is unprecedented.
“It is only when the region is at peace that the multinational oil companies can operate.
“As much as I believe that the programme will end some day, it should not end abruptly in the interest of peace,” Ekiyor said. …Read More

Source:: PM Newspaper