… Amnesty office pleads for understanding
From FEMI FOLARANMI, Yenagoa
There was pandemonium at Mbiama, a border community between Rivers and Bayelsa states yesterday as former militants under the Federal Government amnesty programme barricaded the East/West Road, forcing many travellers to be stranded for several hours.
This is even as the amnesty office has appealed to the former militants to stop the protest, explaining that the delay in their payment was due to the non-release of funds by the relevant ministry and agency.
The former militants, who had staged protests in Warri and Patani in Delta State few days ago, said they were protesting the delay in the payment of their November allowances.
Checks indicated that as early as 7am, the former militants had gathered at strategic locations and set up barricades to stop the flow of traffic.
Many travellers that were caught in the gridlock pleaded with them to remove the barricade but they refused.
A combined team of policemen and soldiers that were deployed to the area also pleaded with the former militants before they could remove the barricade to allow few vehicular movements.
Efforts to ensure the barricade was removed failed as the former militants insisted that the amnesty office must address them.
Head of Media, Amnesty Office, Mr. Dan Alabrah, has, however, appealed to former agitators in the Niger Delta and the beneficiaries enlisted in the Presidential Amnesty Programme, who are protesting the delay in payment of the November 2014 stipend, to eschew violence and show understanding.
Alabrah in a statement issued yesterday said the appeal became necessary following protests by some of the beneficiaries in some Niger Delta states in the last two days over the delay.
The Special Adviser to the President on the Presidential Amnesty Programme, Kingsley Kuku, said he had made frantic efforts to ensure the November allowances were released.
The statement read in part: The Special Adviser has been in constant communication with the relevant ministry and agency of government in order to expedite the release and disbursement of our monthly allocation. He has firm assurances that the process will be completed in the next few days and all the beneficiaries will be promptly paid.”
Alabrah noted that the situation was not peculiar to the amnesty office alone as some states government and Federal Government agencies were yet to pay staff salaries.
http://sunnewsonline.com/new/?p=96151
From FEMI FOLARANMI, Yenagoa
There was pandemonium at Mbiama, a border community between Rivers and Bayelsa states yesterday as former militants under the Federal Government amnesty programme barricaded the East/West Road, forcing many travellers to be stranded for several hours.
This is even as the amnesty office has appealed to the former militants to stop the protest, explaining that the delay in their payment was due to the non-release of funds by the relevant ministry and agency.
The former militants, who had staged protests in Warri and Patani in Delta State few days ago, said they were protesting the delay in the payment of their November allowances.
Checks indicated that as early as 7am, the former militants had gathered at strategic locations and set up barricades to stop the flow of traffic.
Many travellers that were caught in the gridlock pleaded with them to remove the barricade but they refused.
A combined team of policemen and soldiers that were deployed to the area also pleaded with the former militants before they could remove the barricade to allow few vehicular movements.
Efforts to ensure the barricade was removed failed as the former militants insisted that the amnesty office must address them.
Head of Media, Amnesty Office, Mr. Dan Alabrah, has, however, appealed to former agitators in the Niger Delta and the beneficiaries enlisted in the Presidential Amnesty Programme, who are protesting the delay in payment of the November 2014 stipend, to eschew violence and show understanding.
Alabrah in a statement issued yesterday said the appeal became necessary following protests by some of the beneficiaries in some Niger Delta states in the last two days over the delay.
The Special Adviser to the President on the Presidential Amnesty Programme, Kingsley Kuku, said he had made frantic efforts to ensure the November allowances were released.
The statement read in part: The Special Adviser has been in constant communication with the relevant ministry and agency of government in order to expedite the release and disbursement of our monthly allocation. He has firm assurances that the process will be completed in the next few days and all the beneficiaries will be promptly paid.”
Alabrah noted that the situation was not peculiar to the amnesty office alone as some states government and Federal Government agencies were yet to pay staff salaries.
http://sunnewsonline.com/new/?p=96151
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