Ex-militants, Soldiers Clash Along Warri-port Harcourt Highway - Politics

Vehicular movement and commercial activities were disrupted along the busy East-West (Warri-Port Harcourt) highway when some ex-militants trooped on to the road at about 7 am yesterday to protest the non-payment of their allowances by the Coordinator of the Presidential Amnesty Office and Special Adviser on Niger Delta, Mr. Kingsley Kuku.


The protesters led by the Bayelsa State Third Phase Amnesty Chairman, Mr. Ebi John, were said to have taken over the road, obstructing the free flow of traffic.
Travellers and commuters were stranded as the ex-militants chanted war songs demanding that Kuku pays them without further delay.
Shortly after they barricaded the road, military patrol vans and two Armoured Personnel Carriers (APCs) driven by armed soldiers were said to have swooped in on the ex-militants.


The soldiers were said to have shot into the air many times to dispel the protesters from the road, resulting in a stampede.
As the stand off between the soldiers and the youths ensued, some members of the Bayelsa State Working Committee of the All Progressives Congress (APC) led by the state chairman of the party, Mr. Tiwe Oruminighe, rushed to the scene.


Oruminighe assembled the protesters and appealed to them to leave the road to avoid violence and bloodshed.
He said blocking the road was not a solution to their plight and promised that the leadership of APC in the state would seek to resolve the issues.


He said the new federal government led by President Muhammadu Buhari was genuinely concerned about the problems of the Niger Delta region and should be given time to solve them.
“We came here to talk with you to leave the road. It is a federal road and does not belong to Bayelsa State. If you block that road, you are not helping the government at the centre, which has come to create wealth for us.


“As brothers, I want you to understand that we need to join hands together to give some time to the government to create what we want.
“We have some notable sons and daughters that are already in this government such as Timipre Sylva, Rotimi Amaechi, Adams Oshiomhole and many others who will be taking our matter to the president.


“I want to promise you that your matter will be taken to the highest level and will be addressed in the shortest possible time,” he said.
But the Association of Presidential Amnesty Programme Vendors (APAV) accused the Accountant-General of the Federation (AGF) and some staff of the Amnesty Office of delaying the payment of their allowances and scholarship funding for the ex-militants being trained under the programme.


According to the association, though the Presidential Amnesty Office under the leadership of Kuku had pleaded with the ex-militants on overseas training and at home to remain calm, preliminary investigations showed that the delayed payments was caused by sabotage by key personnel and staff of the Presidential Amnesty Office.


In a statement issued yesterday by its Chairman, Dr. Amgbakuromor Youbeni, the group alleged that preliminary investigations had shown that the delay in payment of allowances was caused by Mr. Ayoola Peters, Director of Finance and Accounts, and the Deputy Director of Procurement in the Amnesty Office.


“These persons have deliberately stayed away from work for the past two months, thereby frustrating the efforts of the Amnesty Office to settle outstanding payments to ex-militant youths and scholarship students worldwide.


“These people have deliberately stayed away from the office in order to frustrate and sabotage the efforts of Kingsley Kuku to ensure the proper training and welfare of amnesty trainees located across the globe,” the association claimed.


It said the situation was causing untold hardship and suffering for thousands of young Niger Delta students around the world, many of whom have been stopped or about to be stopped from attending classes due to non-payment of their tuition fees, “while some are being evicted from their accommodation due to non-payment”.


“We have discovered that Mr. Ayoola Peters is conniving with the Accountant-General of the Federation (AGF) to deliberately delay the May allocation to the Amnesty Office, so that he and other senior directors will sign off and disburse the funds as they deem fit when Kingsley Kuku leaves office.


“In view of the sensitive nature and the national security challenges of the Niger Delta Amnesty Programme, the Presidential Amnesty Programme Vendors Association led by Dr. Amgbakuromor Youbeni wish to call on President Buhari to allow Kingsley Kuku to continue running the affairs of the office pending the nomination of his successor,” the group said.



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