Amnesty: Interim Committee May Bring Back Militancy, Ijaw Group Warns – The Liberator 

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By Binebai Princewill
A Niger Delta based sociocultural group operating under the auspices of Save Ijaw Nation, SIN has warned the Federal Government of Nigeria that the Interim Committee with Northerners injected into it may bring back militancy to the region and country if care is not taken.
This was contained in a statement issued to newsmen in Warri, signed by convener of the group, Comr. Yangaboy Erekedoumene, a copy of which was sent to The Liberator Newspaper.
The Niger Delta human rights activist noted that the amnesty programme meant for Niger Deltans is not a political arrangement to reward partymen, stressing that it was established on the bloods of Niger Deltans.
Comr. Yangaboy had particularly advised president Buhari to shun any form of showing direct or indirect hatred towards the Niger Delta region, adding that he should be more concerned about peace and unity of the country.
The celebrated Niger Delta rights activist noted that PAP is solely for Niger Delta people hence any attempt to do otherwise will be vehemently resisted.
Yangaboy further called on President Muhammadu Buhari to immediately appoint an Ijaw man from Delta State as coordinator of the Amnesty programme.
In his words: “The attention of Save Ijaw Nation, SIN, has been drawn to a purported plan by President Buhari to man the Niger Delta Presidential Amnesty Programme with a Northerner led caretaker committee.
“We condemn this move completely as we see the move to be whimsical, a threat to public peace, a complete strangulation of the staggering Nigerian economy and a call to anarchy in the Niger Delta like the days before the setup of the programme in 2009.
“In our benevolence, we wish to remind the presidency that, the Niger Delta Presidential Amnesty Programme was created primarily to address the multiple issues surrounding the economic and environmental militia protests carried out by Niger Deltans, particularly the Ijaw people that have housed about 80 percent of the Nigerian crude oil but largely remain underdeveloped.
“In the same vein, we wish to claim that, NIGER DELTA PAP is not a political arrangement created to be used as a political gift to reward partymen, friends or kingsmen but an index necessity adopted to address the remote causes of conflict in the Niger Delta with a clear vision to achieve long lasting peace and development in the Niger Delta.
“Going further, we would also re-emphasize that the Niger Delta Presidential Amnesty Programme is exclusively for Niger Deltans and Niger Deltans alone like the northern agencies are for the North alone hence, should be left alone to be manned and managed by Niger Deltans and Ex-agitators.
“We therefore, encourage President Buhari to quickly appoint a well informed and qualified Delta Ijaw man to be the coordinator of the programme in order to achieve it’s fundational objectives and goals.
“President Buhari should recall the numerous sacrifices the Late President Umaru Musa Yar’adua and the Niger Delta stakeholders made to achieve the current peace that have sustained the free flow of billions of petro-dollar bills with which this administration have used to fight fruitlessly the baseless terrorism in the north.
“Like his Predecessors, Pa Buhari should tow the part of peace and national unity and shun anything that will midwife hatred directly or indirectly between Niger Deltans and the rest of the country particularly the North that have continued to claim ownership of everything including the oxygen Niger Deltans breathe to live.” .

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