Amnesty boss sues for peace for Niger-Delta

The Coordinator, Presidential Amnesty Programme, retired Brig.-Gen. Paul Boroh has appealed to ex-agitators in the Niger-Delta to always tow the path of peace and dialogue, to ensure sustainable development of the region.

Boroh, also Special Adviser to the President on Niger-Delta, made the appeal in a statement issued to newsmen on Thursday in Yenagoa on Thursday.

The statement is signed by Mr Piriye Kiyaramo, Media Coordinator, Amnesty Programme, Bayelsa Liaison Office.

Boroh said that peace and dialogue remained significant in moving the region forward.

The coordinator said that the Federal Government was aware of the plight of the people in the region, particularly the youth and ex-agitators.

He urged the aggrieved ex-agitators to seek peaceful ways of resolving issues, through meaningful dialogue with the appropriate authorities.

Boroh decried threat by the ex-agitators on the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) over unpaid stipends, saying such threats were improper.

“I advise the youth to use their imagination and time on useful and rewarding undertakings.

“It will be counterproductive for the very peace ambassadors under the Presidential Amnesty Programme to threaten the peace in the Niger-Delta over outstanding arrears.

“This is so, especially now that peacebuilding efforts are in top gear in the region,” he said.

Boroh said that CBN only remitted monies to the appropriate commercial banks on receipt of funds from the Consolidated Revenue Account.

“I must assure you that my office is working on different initiatives and programmes that will directly benefit beneficiaries of the amnesty programme in the region.

“This is with a view to reintegrating, sustainably, the 30, 000 ex-agitators into the society with identifiable sources of livelihood,” he said.

The ex-militant leaders under the amnesty programme, on Tuesday, gave the CBN a seven-day ultimatum to pay up their outstanding three months stipends.

They warned that failure of the apex bank to comply would amount to the shutting down its offices in the Niger Delta region

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