The Ijaw Youth Network (IYN) has condemned recent attacks and blackmail by a so-called “Niger Delta Concerned Youths for Change” against the administrator of the Presidential Amnesty Programme, Dr, Dennis Otuaro.
The IYN in a statement signed by its president, Frank Ebikabo and secretary, Federal Ebiaridor, on Saturday, described the group’s allegation of mismanagement of the programme against Otuaro as “baseless, malicious, and unfounded.”
Ebikabo and Ebiaridor said the attacks and blackmail were part of a coordinated campaign to give the PAP administrator a bad name and distract him from the remarkable work he is doing in the Niger Delta.
The group stressed that “all such wicked plots to derail the programme will fail like others before them.”
They stated that the serial attacks and blackmail smack of pure hatred for Otuaro because he had blocked all loopholes which the misguided attackers, blackmailers, and their sponsors were using to siphon funds meant for the execution of the programme’s mandate.
“Every other week, a new ghost group springs up with similar accusations, a pattern designed to harass and discredit a man whose only offence is his diligence, transparency, and love for the Niger Delta.
We, as concerned stakeholders, strongly condemn these attacks and blackmail and urge the discerning public to discountenance them,” the statement read.
Ebikabo and Ebiaridor said that Otuaro had sanitised the PAP through deliberate reforms, which had led to the expansion of the programme’s scholarship and vocational training schemes to create more opportunities for the former agitators and beneficiaries.
They said, “The Presidential Amnesty Programme, under the leadership of Dr Dennis Otuaro, has focused on and expanded youth empowerment, education, and skills acquisition, all geared towards human capacity development in the Niger Delta and fostering peace and stability in line with President Bola Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda.
“He has brought renewed energy, direction, and purpose to the initiative. The Presidential Amnesty Programme has become “a pride of the Federal Government and a reference point in post-conflict reintegration and rehabilitation management.”
The IYN also questioned the legitimacy of the accusers, describing the so-called “Niger Delta Concerned Youths for Change” as a fictitious organisation with shadowy characters like ‘Comrade Lion Ogorry.”
The group further alleged that the real target of the sustained devilish attacks and blackmail by the misguided elements is to blackmail President Tinubu, who appointed him to reposition the PAP.
The IYN called on the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and other relevant institutions to resist being used as tools in a smear campaign, and urged all Niger Deltans to rally behind the PAP Administrator.
“We say unequivocally: Leave Dr Dennis Otuaro alone. He is doing an excellent job. The people of the Niger Delta, including ex-agitators, traditional leaders, and other stakeholders, are solidly behind him,” the statement concluded.
The Ijaw group also cautions that public officials from other ethnic nationalities are not blackmailed with such recurring intensity and urges the stakeholders to take steps to stop the ugly situation.
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