EX-MILITANTS WANTS THE EXTENSION OF AMNESTY BEYOND 2015

Former Niger Delta agitators under Third Phase Amnesty have called for the continuation of Presidential Amnesty Programme beyond 2015.

They said the programme must not be discontinued until critical areas identified by the Niger Delta Technical Report were addressed.

The Leader of Third Phase Amnesty, Ramsey Mukoro, said this in Yenagoa on Monday. He also appealed to the Federal Government to integrate the militants that were denied in the programme.

He said, “The Federal Government should ensure that those denied are enlisted into the programme because it will bring about lasting peace and contribute meaningfully to the development of the region.

“Also, the government should develop the communities, clean up oil spills and ensure that the impact of the 13 per cent derivation and ecological fund are felt in the communities.”

Commending the Federal Government on what had been achieved so far, he said more emphasis should be placed on community development and remediation of the environment.

He also urged the National Assembly to without delay pass the Petroleum Industry Bill into law, saying, “This is expected to benefit our communities in the long term.”

According to him, it will be a shock to ex-militants who are studying abroad under PAP to return home and see their communities still underdeveloped and the youth without jobs.

He lamented that ongoing gas flaring in the Niger Delta region was not only wasting the natural resource but also poisoning the people while the communities face threat from coastal erosion and other ecological challenges.

Mukoro said it was high time the people and environment benefited, blaming the leadership for the failure to ensure the 13 per cent oil derivation got to the oil producing communities.

He urged Bayelsa, Rivers and Akwa Ibom states to create oil mineral producing areas development commissions to manage the 13 per cent derivation on behalf of the oil producing communities.

On the Niger Delta Development Commission, he asked the management on inspection and monitoring of projects and the Federal Government to give the commission proper directives on its mandate.