New Re-elected Governor of Borno State Insists On Amnesty for Boko Haram Members

Boko Haram has killed thousands, raped hundreds of our women and displaced thousands from their homes,so giving them amnesty seemed like the worst idea in the world. But read the newly re-elected governor, Mr. Shettima stand on Boko Haram and amnesty.

“I do not intend to spoil the celebration mood today but I simply cannot ignore the fact that as we are gathered here, looking good and so full of excitement, thousands of our fellow sons and daughters of Borno, old and young, including babies that are few days old, are displaced in their own land and country,”
“We have gone through the most savage insurgency of the Boko Haram sect, which massacred thousands of our people; especially destroying the cream of Borno youth and ensuring that into the next generation, we will be faced with a demographic crisis that will challenge our creative ingenuity, to overcome,” he said.

Mr. Shettima lambasted the government of Goodluck Jonathan, referring to it as “a hostile Federal Government, which lived in denial about the savagery of Boko Haram and which also saw the insurgency from the most perverted, narrow and irresponsible prism, that somehow, the insurgency had been fuelled against it, by the political and other elites of this part of Nigeria.”

“They therefore did only the barest and most perfunctory, to stem the problem. Meanwhile, our people suffered and our communities were systematically laid to waste,” he said. “Democracy became the saving grace for the people.“With our votes, we threw out a government at the centre, which did not work in the national interest and have now voted into power, President Muhammadu Buhari, who is also being inaugurated into power today in Abuja.”

He also reiterated his readiness to give members of Boko Haram a chance for amnesty.

“Unless we want to engage in an endless war of attrition that will be hallmarked by the continuing destruction of lives and property, it becomes imperative that willing members of the Boko Haram sect that want to come out of the bush must be given the opportunity to be de-radicalized and then rehabilitated to become useful citizens of society,” he said.
“It is never easy to accept back into the community, those who have taken up arms, killed, pillaged, raped and destroyed. But in the long run, society must make very expensive choices for peace, reconciliation and development. We are therefore appealing to the Federal Government of Nigeria and the International Community to assist our endeavour in that regard.”

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Nigerian Government Withdraws Sponsorship of Six Students in Russia Over Attack On Embassy

The Presidency has withdrawn sponsorship of six students at the Peoples Friendship University, for unruly behavior after the Monday attack of Nigeria Embassy in Moscow.

The affected students are reported to have stormed the Nigerian Embassy in Moscow and protested non-remittance of their September allowance, creating image problems for Nigeria in the process.

The Office of the Special Adviser to the President on Niger Delta announced yesterday that it decided to withdraw sponsorship of the affected students to serve as deterrent to others under its sponsorship in other parts of the globe.

The students were part of the 24 Niger Delta youths being sponsored by the Amnesty Office at the Peoples Friendship University, Moscow, Russia, who were found to be behind the condemnable act.

"For going on rampage and violently attacking the Nigerian Mission, these students breached the Code of Conduct for delegates on scholarship that they all signed before their departure from Nigeria. It is also a gross misconduct, which the Nigerian government cannot tolerate. Students on its sponsorship cannot go on rampage on flimsy excuses in a foreign country and damage the image and reputation of Nigeria.

"Our records show that the students were not being owed their In-Training Allowance, ITA, for six months as they alleged."

"In fact, the only unremitted allowance was for the month of September 2013, which had been approved and was being processed by the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, at the time they attacked the Mission.

"My office had communicated the students on Friday, September 27, 2013 about the processing of their ITA for the months of September and October 2013 and the need for them to be patient while it was being handled by the CBN.

"We were therefore shocked when information got to us that the delegates had invaded the embassy, destroyed property and attacked the Mission officials over unpaid allowances. This is absolutely unacceptable," Kuku said. Kuku also dismissed speculations among former agitators in the Niger Delta that they would soon be paid the sum of N2 million each by the Amnesty Office.

Source:Vanguardngr

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FG Earmarks N35bn For Ex Militants In 2013

The Presidency has earmarked a budget of over N35bn for ex-militants in the Niger Delta. Special Adviser to the President on Amnesty Programme, Mr. Kingsley Kuku, said that the money was to cater for skills acquisition and vocational training.

Kuku presented the proposal before the House of Representatives’ Committee on Niger Delta, headed by Hon. Warman Ogoriba.

According to him: “A review, analysis and discussions of actual proposals with training vendors and educational institutions as well as other re-insertion factors have revealed that a projected figure of N35,409,859,972.63 is to be spent in the year 2013 on the reintegration of the ex-militants enrolled in the Presidential Amnesty Programme.

“As mentioned earlier, 63 per cent of this sum will go to service ongoing commitments while the balance, that is 37 per cent, will be expended in placing 3,000 transformed ex-agitators in either formal education or vocational training in the fiscal year 2013.”

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Ex-militants chase former leaders for alleged embezzlement

SOME ex-militant leaders from Bayelsa State are on the run, following a manhunt for them by splinter groups of disarmed ex-militants for allegedly siphoning their entitlements.

Chairman, Second Phase Amnesty Unpaid Ex-militants, numbering about 1,000, Emomotimi Azebri, told Vanguard yesterday, that their leaders in collusion with some government officials allegedly diverted their money for personal use.

He said:  “Initially, we received our monthly entitlements for about two to three months through our different accounts opened for the purpose in the United Bank for Africa, UBA, before our ex-militant leaders, in conjunction with some unscrupulous government officials, diverted the money to their private pockets.

“We have put in place a machinery to check their movement. So long as they live in the county, there is no hiding place for them.

“We are ready to die with these ex-leaders, who are busy buying fleets of cars and building houses and sleeping in hotels with our money.”

He said a similar problem reared its head in neighboring Delta State recently but added that delegates from the Presidency partially addressed it.

Azebri said they would want a similar intervention by the Presidency in Bayelsa State.

He stated the determination of the ex-militants to quiz their runaway leaders whenever they were caught.

He said the ex-militants would, henceforth, take their destiny in their hands and burn houses and vehicles discovered to have been acquired with their money.

Azebri said some of the affected ex-militants served in Ogri and Egane camps, and warned that their runaway leaders would not be spared when ever they were caught.

“We are angry. If we see them, we will handle them with our hands and I tell you, it will be bloody because we will no longer fold our arms.

“They want us to go back to the creek, but we will not return to the creek; we will hunt for them because we know that the Federal Government is paying us, but they and a cabal have stopped payment to us through the bank,” he warned.

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Muslim leader proposes amnesty for Boko Haram members

A Muslim leader in Delta State, Mr Sadiq Musa, weekend, called on the Federal Government to grant amnesty to members of the Boko Haram sect as a way of resolving the security crisis posed by the group.

He also advised that the government should introduce amnesty programme for them, as was done for former militants in the Niger Delta, few years ago.

But a Niger Delta activist, Mr. Vincent Oyibode, said the ideal thing for President Goodluck Jonathan to do was to relocate the seat of power from Abuja to the Niger-Delta for safety reasons.

Oyibode said there was nothing wrong with President Jonathan relocating to the Niger Delta since it was obvious that the plan of the northerners behind Boko Haram was to make the nation ungovernable for him.

Musa, who is spokesman of the Delta State Muslim Council, also faulted the advice by national president of the Christian Association of Nigeria, Pastor Ayo Oritsejafor, that Christians should defend themselves against Boko Haram, saying it was an inciting statement.

He dissociated Delta Muslims from Boko Haram sect, pointing out that the group was anti-Islam and commended President Jonathan for recently asking the group to come out with their complaints and demands for a better Nigeria.

He said “Boko Haram is giving Nigeria a bad name, making the country ungovernable for President Jonathan. The group is not fighting a religious war because both Muslims and Christians are being killed in the attacks.”

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