Ex-Militants Protest Over Stipends To Amnesty Beneficiaries

Thousands of former militant youths under the Presidential Amnesty Programme (PAP) have staged a protest in Yenagoa, Bayelsa State over the de-listing of 2,952 beneficiaries and alleged refusal of the Amnesty office to pay them the monthly stipend of N65,000.

According to the protesting youths, under the second phase, the refusal of the Amnesty office to return the affected 2,952 beneficiaries to the payroll and  pay them will lead to the occupation of its office in Abuja and disruption of presidential campaigns within the Niger Delta region.

The youths were at the secretariat of the Nigerian Union of Journalists in Yenagoa led by their national chairman, Aso Tambo, gave the Amnesty office  one week to commence immediate payment of those delisted from the payroll of the programme.

According to Aso Tambo, despite the achievements recorded by the Interim Administrator, Major General Barry Tariye Ndiomu (rtd) on security commitment from the head of service and the Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) in the area of employment for beneficiaries, the refusal to pay the 2,952 beneficiaries will provoke tension and destroy the existing fragile peace in the region.

He said; “If they feel we are dogs that bark and cannot bite, they should dare us and see the consequence. They should consider the monthly stipends important and know that such payment will lead to an unimaginable crisis if not paid immediately.”