‘Stop Playing Politics With Amnesty Programme’

A Niger Delta activist and National Coordinator, Solid Base Youth Development Initiative (SBYDI), Opia Ojieh, has called on politicians to steer clear of the Federal Government’s amnesty programme for repentant militants in the region.
Ojieh, while speaking with newsmen in Port Harcourt, yesterday, called on Nigerians irrespective of tribe or ethnicity to support the Special Adviser to the President on Amnesty, Gen. Paul Boroh (rtd), for efficient running of the programme.
The activist stated that the amnesty was still helpful to the ex-agitators in the region, warning that the programme should never be politicised.
Ojieh, regretted that the programme had been hijacked and influenced by some politicians in the region, stating that such portends danger for the scheme that restored peace to the region.
He called on the Federal Government to implement the full component of the programme, even as he urged politicians to allow Boroh to do his work without distraction.
“Nobody should politicise the amnesty programme. When the bullets were flying in the creeks during the days of militancy and communal clashes before the proclamation of amnesty in 2009, the bullets never chose who was an APC or PDP member, it went ahead to hit its targets.
“We want all hands to be on deck to protect the pipeline from being vandalised. Things are going wrong because some people want to politicise the same programme that brought peace in the Niger Delta.
“We thank President Muhammad Buhari for appointing Boroh to head the amnesty program. And we call on our people to work together to ensure that the programme remains a success,” Ojieh added.

Josephine Atagana