The former warlord said the use of arms in the name of a struggle
should be treated as terrorism, noting that the Amnesty Programme
should, however, not be taken for granted.
Ayiri Emani(Daily Post)
Former Itsekiri warlord Chief Ayiri Emami has urged President-elect, Muhammadu Buhari to put an end to the ongoing Amnesty Programme for ex-militants of the Niger Delta, which was started by the late Nigerian President Umaru Yar’Adua.
He reportedly asked that the programme's operations be probed.
Emani
said on Thursday, April 29, that the use of arms in the name of a
struggle should be treated as terrorism, noting that the Amnesty
Programme should, however, not be taken for granted.
He said, “If
the layman’s understanding of the word amnesty is anything to go by,
then it presupposes an arrangement where militants who genuinely turn in
all their arms and ammunition are rehabilitated, re-oriented and
trained with a view to reintegrating them to everyday societal living.
“In
the ordinary sense of it, any person or group that picks up arms in the
name of struggle or agitation ought to have been treated as terrorists,
hence nobody or group should take the gesture of the federal government
for granted.
“Amnesty should not be
continuous; partially giving out money to youths from a particular
ethnic nationality is wrong, sending some of them abroad for training
without any visible impact on the Niger Delta and the nation at large is
counter-productive.”
The former Niger Delta
militant leader, now a chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC)
in Delta state is believed to be reacting to the Ijaw Youth Council, who demanded the continuation of the Amnesty Programme for Niger Delta youths.
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