KAGOTE Lauds Fresh Amnesty To Ogoni Cultists

The apex Ogoni socio-cultural group, KAGOTE has lauded Rivers State Governor, Chief Nyesom Wike for putting in place a fresh amnesty programme for cultists and criminals in Ogoniland.
The President General of KAGOTE, Dr Peter Medee,  in an interview with newsmen, Monday, appealed to cultists and criminals in Ogoniland who did not embrace the initial amnesty offer to avail themselves of this opportunity and surrender their arms.
Medee assured that stakeholders in Ogoniland were ready to work with the state government to ensure that the amnesty programme is successful in Ogoniland.
He expressed the hope that peace will finally return to Ogoniland, which in recent times, has been ravaged by renewed killings and violence, and urged that all hands must be on deck to achieve the desired peace in the area.
The KAGOTE president general further appealed to security personnel deployed to Ogoniland to quell the wave of killings to allow cultists and criminals come out of hiding and embrace the state amnesty programme.
In line with the goal of achieving peace, the Movement for the Survival of Ogoni People (MOSOP) and KAGOTE have  agreed to work together to fashion out  a new strategy towards ending the spate of killings in Ogoniland.
The President of MOSOP, Legborsi Pyagbara, who disclosed this in an interview with newsmen in Port Harcourt, said both KAGOTE and MOSOP were committed towards restoring a lasting peace in the area.
Similarly, the lawmaker representing Khana Constituency 1 in the Rivers State House of Assembly, Hon Bariene Deeyah, has joined in calling on cult groups and other criminal gangs in the area to take advantage of the window of opportunity of amnesty provided by Governor Nyesom Wike to surrender and submit their weapons.
Deeyah, in a statement, Monday, argued that the amnesty offer will put an end to killings and bloodletting in Ogoniland.
He assured that the amnesty  window will usher in peace in the land so that the people can enjoy the dividends of democracy, which the Wike administration was religiously committed to in the development of Ogoni.
The lawmaker commended the state governor for offering fresh amnesty to cult groups in the area with a view to re-orientating and re-integrating them into the society.
He sympathised with families who lost their loved ones in the violence that was unleashed in the area by the cultists, and assured that he would do everything within his powers to assist the IDPs in the affected  Ogoni communities.

Susan Serekara-Nwikhana