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From Femi Folaranmi, Yenagoa
Key stakeholders from the Niger Delta region have described as false claims an online report which alleged that frontline former militant leader, Chief Victor Ebikabowei Victor- Ben aka Boyloaf was involved in corruption at the Presidential Amnesty Programme (PAP).
The key stakeholders comprising of elders of the Ijaw National Congress (INC), members of the Ijaw Youth Council (IYC), traditional rulers, youth and women groups across the Niger Delta region, described the report as selective witch-hunt, a sponsored personal attack, and a deliberate plan to cause disaffection and security breach in the region.
The key stakeholders, in a joint press statement issued in Yenagoa, the Bayelsa state capital, over the weekend and signed by Chief Bubaraye Daniels fingered disgruntled and failed politicians as behind the attack on Boyloaf.
Bubaraye pointed out that Boyloaf is known to his followers and millions of people across the region as a credible, upright former warlord, and disciplinarian, who in recent years have risen to the role of a statesman, a peace and conflict resolution strategist and advocate.
He noted that Boyloaf is not a civil servant nor a career politician that would be involved in cutting deals.
The statement read in part: ‘’Boyloaf was not only a co-founder, but he was extremely instrumental for the successful establishment of the Presidential Amnesty Programme (PAP) and has continued to fulfil his obligations under the agreement reached with the Federal Government since 2009 to ensure sustained peace and stability in the region. Hardly can you find anyone across the region that understands the workings of the Presidential Amnesty Programme (PAP) better than Boyloaf.
“He has not only maintained the peace accord reached with the federal government but has transformed himself and thousands of his followers in ways unimaginable, both educationally and politically, and contributes immensely to the political and socio-economic growth and development in the region and the country at large.
“Since the inception of the PAP, never has anyone heard that delegates from Boyloaf’s camp were protesting against the non-payment of their monthly stipends.
“These disgruntled and failed politicians making false and frivolous publications against Boyloaf should understand that no amount of blackmail or publications will sway Boyloaf from working to ensure peace in the region, despite occasional agitations caused by sabotage and over the unfulfilled infrastructural development promised to the ex-militant leaders by the federal government during the Presidential Amnesty Proclamation. Boyloaf has become an instrument for security and socio-economic growth in the Niger Delta region.”
