Don't Force Us to Return to the Creeks – Ex-Militants Warn FG Not to Tamper With Amnesty Fund
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“If they are giving presidential amnesty programme a budget of N20bn, we don’t know what the Federal Government wants to use the money for because N24bn is what they use in paying the N65,000 monthly stipend of the 30,000 ex-militants. So, if you are giving a budget of N20bn, we don’t know what they want to use the money for. Is it for our stipend or is it to push us to the creeks to go and fight a war? Or they want to use the money to buy arms for us to go and fight Boko Haram?
“That is why we decided to stage a peaceful protest. We want to use this medium to tell the Federal Government that they should reverse the budget. We know what amnesty stipend is. Amnesty stipend is N65,000. When you multiply that by 30,000 it will amount to about N1.9bn monthly. So if you put it together in 12 months you will arrive at about N24bn and above. So we don’t know why the Federal Government has approved N20bn.”
He warned the Buhari-led government to leave the Amnesty Programme alone if it wants to sustain the peace initiated by the late President Yar’Adua in 2009.
The ex-agitator further stated that the alleged reduction in their monthly stipends had reached “a provocative climax.”
Former Niger Delta militants under the umbrella of
Presidential Amnesty Phase II, yesterday warned against an alleged plan
by the Federal Government to slash the 2016 budget of the Presidential
Amnesty Office.
According to Daily Post, the ex-militants, who comprised those in the
6166 Presidential Amnesty Phase II, 3142 and 20192 ex-militants Phase
III and Phase I, stated that the proposed N20bn for the initiative was
unacceptable to them.
While calling on the Federal Government to respect the Memorandum of Understanding, MoU, it signed with them, they lamented that the proposed amount could not cater for their monthly stipends.
While calling on the Federal Government to respect the Memorandum of Understanding, MoU, it signed with them, they lamented that the proposed amount could not cater for their monthly stipends.
The ex-militants, who marched through the streets of Warri, Delta State
on Monday in a peaceful protest, carried placards with inscriptions such
as “Senate President, beg President to leave the amnesty budget
alone;” “We say no to the plan to reduce the amnesty budget;” “Buhari,
please don’t force us to go back to the creeks;” “Saraki, leave our
budget alone;” “Ex-militants reject the 2016 amnesty budget;” “The
amnesty budget should increase and not reduce”.
The National Chairman of the 6166 Presidential Amnesty Phase II, Gen. Aso Tambo, while speaking with newsmen in Warri, accused the President Muhammadu Buhari-led Federal Government of allegedly slashing their monthly allowance in its current budget to N20bn as against the N68bn budgeted for the office last year. Tambo said, “Our problem is that we have been receiving budget of this programme from October 4, 2009 till today and our budget used to be N86bn. Last year it was N68bn. But this year, we were reliably informed that the 2016 budget for the programme is N20bn.
The National Chairman of the 6166 Presidential Amnesty Phase II, Gen. Aso Tambo, while speaking with newsmen in Warri, accused the President Muhammadu Buhari-led Federal Government of allegedly slashing their monthly allowance in its current budget to N20bn as against the N68bn budgeted for the office last year. Tambo said, “Our problem is that we have been receiving budget of this programme from October 4, 2009 till today and our budget used to be N86bn. Last year it was N68bn. But this year, we were reliably informed that the 2016 budget for the programme is N20bn.
“If they are giving presidential amnesty programme a budget of N20bn, we don’t know what the Federal Government wants to use the money for because N24bn is what they use in paying the N65,000 monthly stipend of the 30,000 ex-militants. So, if you are giving a budget of N20bn, we don’t know what they want to use the money for. Is it for our stipend or is it to push us to the creeks to go and fight a war? Or they want to use the money to buy arms for us to go and fight Boko Haram?
“That is why we decided to stage a peaceful protest. We want to use this medium to tell the Federal Government that they should reverse the budget. We know what amnesty stipend is. Amnesty stipend is N65,000. When you multiply that by 30,000 it will amount to about N1.9bn monthly. So if you put it together in 12 months you will arrive at about N24bn and above. So we don’t know why the Federal Government has approved N20bn.”
He warned the Buhari-led government to leave the Amnesty Programme alone if it wants to sustain the peace initiated by the late President Yar’Adua in 2009.
The ex-agitator further stated that the alleged reduction in their monthly stipends had reached “a provocative climax.”
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