Daniel Idonor
9 July 2009
Abuja — THE Presidential Panel on Amnesty and Disarmament for Militants in the Niger-Delta has adopted a grassroots consultative meeting with militants and other stakeholders with a view to assuring them of the Federal Government's committment towards solving the vexing issues of the region through the recently-offered amnesty and other developmental policies.
Vanguard investigation reveals that already key members of the committee, especially those with flare for grassroots mobilisation, have been dispatched to the nooks and crannies of the troubled Niger-Delta, as part of confidence-building among the people that much more than ever before, the present government has decided to show the political will needed to end the Niger-Delta question.
Such members, said to be widely accepted by the people of the region and are now visiting different communities daily, include Air Commodore Lucky Ochuko Ararile (rtd), an Urhobo man from Delta State and former Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Environment, Dr. Timiebi Koripamo-Agary, from Bayelsa among others.
The Chairman of the panel, General Godwin Abbe (rtd), who is also the Minister of Interior, spoke to Vanguard in an exclusive interview, yesterday, denying being invasive to the press on the activities of the Amnesty Committee but explained that why he has not been talking is because he wanted some concrete breakthroughs by the panel before he speaks, saying he can only talk when there are visible evidence of large scale progress by the panel.
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