Follow Us on Google
From Isaac Job, Uyo
A coalition of former militant groups in the Niger Delta region have appealed to the Federal Government to sack the coordinator of Presidential Amnesty Programme (PAP), Chief Dennis Otuaro, over alleged nepotism and non-performance.
In a statement after a meeting of the Coalition of Niger Delta Agitators in Uyo, the ex-militants urged President Bola Tinubu to replace Otuaro with a non-Ijaw person.
They also demanded transfer of the Presidential Amnesty Office from the Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA) to the Ministry of Housing.
The statement was signed by General Nsa Ikpaisong; Gen. John Duku for Akwa Ibom Revolutionary Council; Gen. Ekpo Ekpo, Niger Delta Warriors; Gen. Osarolor Nedam, Niger Delta volunteers and Gen. Henry Okon Etete, Niger Delta Peoples Fighters, among others.
Daily Sun gathered that the request came a few days after ex-militants from Akwa Ibom State issued a notice to embark on a week-long mass protest in Uyo over their alleged exclusion from the PAP’s benefits, including monthly stipends and scholarship opportunities.
The statement read in parts: “On the leadership of the Presidential Amnesty Program (PAP), the Coalition calls on the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria to immediately replace the current Head of the Presidential Amnesty Programme, Chief Dennis Brutu Otuaro, whose tenure has been characterised by incompetence and non-performance.
Other News
“We further demand the appointment of a Special Adviser who shall bear full responsibility for executing the mandate of the office appropriately, without sentiments or bias. Notably, this appointee should not be from the Ijaw ethnic nationality anymore in the interest of fairness and inclusivity.
“This should immediately follow up with the training and empowerment of the ex-agitators which the previous government had never empowered or trained a single person even as a shoe-maker.
On Scholarship Awards, the ex militants coalition demands immediate, comprehensive review and forensic investigation of the entire process of awarding all postgraduate and undergraduate scholarships under the Presidential Amnesty Programme from 2003 to date.
“The coalition demands the immediate transfer of the Presidential Amnesty Programme from the office of the National Security Adviser (NSA) to the Ministry of Regional Planning, where it can be subjected to proper oversight, planning and regional development coordination.
“The NSA’s office has faced numerous security challenges across the nation, which have inevitably diverted its time, attention and resources away from the effective management of the amnesty programme.
“As a result, the programme has suffered from neglect, poor supervision and a lack of focused leadership.”
