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By Zika Bobby
Some ex-militant leaders in the Presidential Amnesty Programme (PAP) have risen in defence of the programme’s coordinator, Dr. Dennis Burutu Otuaro, condemning the recent campaign of calumny and blackmail against him.
In a statement by Abraham Ekokotu, they expressed their dismay at the attacks and negative propaganda since Otuaro’s appointment, attributing it to disgruntled elements who were liabilities to the programme.
The group under the aegis of Association of Well-meaning Phase 1 Ex-Millitant Leaders (AWPEL), warned those behind the attacks to stop, emphasising that Otuaro’s appointment was a welcome development for the Niger Delta region.
They praised his commitment to the region’s development, citing his experience as a top-level executive of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC).
Otuaro, who assumed duty as the Administrator of the Presidential Amnesty Programme in March 2024, has been tasked with revamping the programme and advancing its founding purpose and vision.
The leaders’ statement is a clear endorsement of Otuaro’s leadership and a call for unity in support of the programme’s objectives.
“Thousands of beneficiaries are in the universities undergoing life changing programmes. Otuaro has been able to make us realise that prompt payment of the beneficiaries of the amnesty programme is not impossible. He has widened the scope of the programme for inclusiveness, particularly the women of the region, who are currently under the empowerment programme of this technocrat and a beacon of hope for the less privileged within the PAP. We know that most ex-militants who see themselves as the owners of the programme are currently crying wolf because Otuaro decided to right the wrongs of the past by standing against corruption in slots allotment. Most individuals/camp owners have thousands of slots undeservedly, whereas some don’t have or are bei
ng shortchanged,” they said. They called on the security apparatus of the country to tame this growing monster of blackmails, incitement, insidious campaign of calumny, destructive tendencies of some who have weaponized protests to drive home their criminal desires.
“Ours is a wake-up call to the security apparatus. They should go all out for these conspirators, who have vowed to pull down President Tinubu’s administration by inciting violence in the Niger Delta. We shall take these perilous campaigns against Otuaro no more.
The career campaigners of evil must be stopped. Nobody will give them free. The PAP has stopped being a cash cow. It is now positioned for excellence within the global space,” they said
