Ex-Militants Protest Over Amnesty Slots …Burn Cars, Loot Shops

Niger Delta ex-militants numbering over 400 yesterday went berserk burning over 15 cars and looting shops along Otiotio Road in Yenagoa, Bayelsa State.

The sector two Command of the Joint Task Force, codenamed Operation Pulo Shield, is located along the Otiotio Road.

Our correspondent gathered that scores of innocent people were wounded in the violent protest organised by the ex-militants to denounce allotment of slots in the third phase amnesty.

During the protest, which lasted about three hours, the ex-militants burnt 11 vehicles with windscreens of other smashed, while stores and shops within the vicinity were looted.

It was also gathered that during the protest, a hawker whose name was not immediately known, was seriously injured by the protesting ex-militants while traders along the road hurriedly closed their shops to avoid being attacked.

The incident, which started at about 10 am, caught most residents unawares, thereby  causing traffic gridlock on both sides of the road as drivers and commutters scampered for safety.

But, with the intervention of  operatives of the Joint Military Taskforce(JTF) ,Anti-Riot Policemen ,State Security Outfit,”Operation Doo Akpor “and Nigerian Security and  Civil Defence Corps to the tensed scene, the situation was brought under control.

When The Tide correspondent in Bayelsa State visited the scene of the incident, broken bottles, including the burnt and smashed vehicles were littered on the road.

Trouble was said to have started when the Inter-Agency Task Force headed by Air Vice Marshall Gbum currently on a verification exercise of ex-militants in the state, reportedly notified them that 15 guns submitted by a militant camp would be entitled to one amnesty slot training.

The ex-militants rejected the controversial slot allocated to them, describing it as meager and inhuman.

Spokesman of the Presidential Amnesty Office, Daniel Alabrah ,condemned the violent protest by the ex-militants, saying that the destruction of innocent people’s property was a misplaced anger.

Alabrah said that the Amnesty Office had no hand in the allocation of slots to the ex-militants, stressing that the Inter- Security Agency would only recommend number of slots to them after its verification exercise.

It was learnt that the taskforce was appointed by the Chief of Defence Staff  to determine arms submitted by the reformed militants.

The Head of the Inter- Agency  Security Taskforce could not be reached to comment on the issue as his mobile phone was switched off.

In a telephone interview, one of the ex-militant leaders, Tonye Bobo, rejected the proposed  15 guns to each slot, arguing that all the ex-militants that surrendered arms  to embrace amnesty should be given a slot in the amnesty programme.

He said, “the Federal Government should abide by the agreement reached between late President Umaru Yar’Adua and the ex-militant leaders.The proposed 15 guns to one slot is unacceptable to us.”

Another ex-militant leader ,General Ebi John, expressed reservations over the controversial slots proposed to the ex-militants ,as he threatened that more mayhem awaited the Federal Government.

“We cannot condone this shabby treatment from the Federal Government after  surrendering our arms and ammunition in order to embrace the amnesty programme,”John added.

Spokesman of JTF, Lt. Col. Onyema Nwachukwu ,confirmed the incident, saying it had been brought under control, adding that the security outfit had no hand in the protest.

It would be recalled that President Goodluck Jonathan last year approved  3,642 ex-militants for training under the third phase of the amnesty programme.

Students of Rivers State University of Science and Technology, Port Harcourt expressing shock over the fire that gutted the female hostel of the university, yesterday.