Interim Administrator of the Presidential Amnesty Programme, Col. Milland Dikio (retd), has urged repentant cult members in the Niger Delta region to resist the temptation of returning to their old ways.
Dikio made the call in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, over the weekend during the graduation ceremony of 12 repentant cultists from the Youth Rescue International Development Organisation (YRIDO).
The PAP boss, who was represented by his Special Adviser on Projects, Godwin Ekpo, said PAP would work with YRIDO to ensure total integration of the repentant cultists.
“I want to thank God for your lives and for Pastor Nature Dumale, who himself is a story of inspiration. I’m hoping that you’ll carry your story to the nooks and crannies of the Niger Delta region and influence several others who would have ordinarily been lost but for the love of Christ.
“We in the amnesty programme are very excited about partnering with Pastor Nature to advance what he has started and hopefully cause it to touch a wider part of our country and beyond.”
On his part, the Rivers State Commander of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), Usman Ali Wada, who was repesented by the Assistant State Commander (Administration and Logistics), Uduak Godwin, said cultism and drug addiction were societal ills that work hand in hand and must be avoided by youths.
The NDLEA commander pledged the support and partnership of the agency with YRIDO in the fight against drug abuse.
On his part, Nature Dumale, Chairman of PAP’s Strategic Communications Committee and coordinator of YRIDO, said he was motivated by God to change others still involved in criminality using his experience as an ex-agitator as a source of inspiration.
Some of the repentant cult members, who spoke, said they had no regrets leaving criminality.
They revealed that since they chose a new path, they were at peace with themselves, as they vowed never to go back to their old ways.