The Mayor of Urhoboland, Eshanakpe Israel a.k.a Akpodoro has accused the Interim Coordinator of the Presidential Amnesty Programme, (PAP) of allegedly playing ethnic agenda in his running of the programme meant for the entire Niger Delta region.
According to Akpodoro who made this known in his New Year message to the people of Niger Delta in particular and Nigerians in general in his Ughelli, Delta State country home at the weekend, he said the coordinator doesn’t see the region beyond his Ijaw kinsmen, saying the Amnesty office has entirely become a cash-cow for only certain people, at the detriment of other tribes particularly Urhobo and Isoko.
He bemoaned what he described as the high handedness of the amnesty boss who he noted is in the office to satisfy the interest of his kits and kins alone, shutting other nationalities out of the benefits of the programme, citing a particular Cooperative Society that was created for the benefit of all but ended being compromised for certain tribesmen alone.
He called on the National Security Adviser to the President, Mallam Nuhu Ribadu to look into the matter before the region is plunged into crisis.
Specifically, the Mayor said his warning is coming at the heels of a petition and a two-week ultimatum issued President Bola Ahmed Tinubu few days ago lamenting the ordeal of some ex-agitators over money allegedly paid into the account of a handful of ex agitators from Bayelsa.
The money, according to the petition, supposedly was for all phase 2 ex-agitators but surprisingly, the Edo and Delta leaders of ex-agitators alleged in their petition to the President that the money ended up in the hands of few persons.
“However, as a leader and most especially, the Mayor of Urhoboland, I have the duty to calm frail nerves while I call on the President to step up actions. The current peace in the Niger Delta region today is borne out of the efforts made by patriotic leaders like myself.
“The President is the father of the nation, and he owes it a duty of service to caution the Amnesty boss and cause him to retrieve the money meant for all Phase 2 ex-agitators and not for his people alone. He came into that office to marginalise and subjugate the urhobo nation, and now he should be told that enough is enough. Urhoboland is not his conquered territory. He should stop stoking ethnic hatred among the peace loving people of our region,” he said.