Itsekiri Ex-agitators set agenda for new IA of Presidential Amnesty Programme, demand immediate payment of training allowances

Itsekiri Ex-agitators in the Presidential Amnesty Programme, under the auspices of Itsekiri Ex-agitators’ Forum, have set up a five-point agenda for the newly appointed Interim Administrator of the Presidential Amnesty Programme, Major General Barry Tariye Ndiomu (Rtd.) demanding immediate payment of training allowances of students deployed to universities, especially Novena University in Delta State.

The Itsekiri Ex-agitators’ Forum in a statement made available to Fresh Angle International Thursday October 6, lamented that most of the Itsekiri students, including those in their final year of the programme and others who recently graduated, have not been paid their training allowances.

The statement e-signed by the President of INDI/ Coordinator of Itsekiri Ex-agitators’ Forum, Comrade Dennis Mene and the General-Secretary of Itsekiri Ex-agitators’ Forum, Comrade Otone Bokhan, congratulated Major General Barry Tariye Ndiomu (Rtd.) for his appointment as the Interim Administrator of the Presidential Amnesty Programme and prayed God to give him the wisdom to manage the programme well, without discrimination.

The Forum, stated in parts: “We are however taken aback by the news making the rounds that part of the mandate given to you is to wind down the programme in about eight months. While we frown against this mandate if it is true, we wish to states that the programme cannot be terminated or wind down without first meeting the core obligations of the programme, which are Disarmament, Demobilization and Reintegration. 

“We wish to state that your administration should hit the ground running by firstly prioritizing the deployment of genuine Ex-agitators captured in the programme, especially those willing to be trained.

“We are aware that a committee was set up to look into their plight of those students, but the committee have not come up with their report till date. The students have been through untold hardship over the years, while waiting for the report and their payment.

“There are also some students in Igbinedion University, whose in-training allowances, has not been paid till date, even after visiting the office in Abuja to explain their genuity with assurances that they will be paid by officials.

“The Interim Administrator need to come out and clear the air on the news of winding down and modalities put in place because some genuine Ex- agitators have not been deployed and the Reintegration is still at the lowest stage in the programme.

“There is no amount of money that is too expensive for peace, especially when it concerns a region that survive the country. With the rumored closure, the region is in a tensed situation as at now, because most of the genuine Ex-agitators who have not been deployed and the students especially in Novena University that has not be paid, are agitating”. 

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