Brave Dickson
Some ex-militants who claimed to have surrendered their guns to the Nigerian Army in 2011 have expressed sadness over the failures of the federal government to document them into its empowerment and rehabilitation schemes.
The leader of the ex-agitators under the aegis of Undocumented 3rd Phase Ex-militants in Niger Delta, Prince Eyeyon said they are about 500,000 in number who are yet to be documented by the federal government.
Mr Eyeyon said that since they surrendered their arms to embrace amnesty, none of them has received neither monthly stipends nor skill acquisitions like their colleagues, urging the federal government and its relevant institutions to come to their aid.
“We surrendered our weapons to the Nigerian Army at the Delta State military barracks in 2011 following a promise from the federal government that we will be trained in various skills and be entitled to monthly stipends.
“Regrettably, we have not benefitted anything from the government. This attitude of the government towards our plight is tempting us to return to the creek but we have vowed never to carry arms again.”
The Niger Delta ex-militant said all frantic efforts to get them documented by the federal government have proved abortive as they are yet to see possibility in sight.
The group in a letter dated August 18, 2018, which they copied President Muhammadu Buhari, the National Assembly and other relevant agencies of government, expressed disappointment over what they described as flimsy excuses by some officials of government as reasons for not documenting them.
The letter reads in parts, “we are tired and had vowed never to return to the creek. Recently, we were defrauded to the tune of 1.5 million naira by some fake amnesty contract staff who promised to get us documented in Abuja.
“We are humbly appealing to all relevant authorities of government to hear our cry and document us, sponsor us on skill acquisitions as well as placing us on payroll like others”.
The letter also revealed some names of the undocumented ex-militants and their camps as follows, “Benson Agaga-Egba camp, Ben Ikperha-Ben Ikperha camp, Israel Ikpukpu-Okpe camp and Felix Ekesiri-Iguku camp”, among others
