Leadership (Abuja)
Golu Timothy
2 November 2009
Abuja — The Federal Government has dismissed claims by ex-militant leader, Henry Okah, that a lot more arms are still in the creeks, and that many of the militants are yet to surrender.
Okah, the former leader of the notorious Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND), had granted an interview to a foreign media in which he alleged that the amnesty programme of President Umaru Musa Yar'Adua was yet to be embraced by all the militants, even as he himself was the first to accept it.
Speaking to State House correspondents yesterday at the Aso Rock Villa, the media coordinator of the presidential panel on amnesty, Dr Timiebi Korebami Agary, said Okah is entitled to his opinion, but the truth remains that no militant is still in the creeks, and no weapons to, the best of government knowledge are still being kept there. She challenged Okah to come forward and prove his allegations and to stop working against the policy.
"First, I think I will want to appeal to Henry Okah to join the peace process. There is peace in the Niger Delta. We are all enjoying peace and he should join in consolidating this peace. Mr. President is reaching out to all the leaders, including him, and I think he needs to respect that office. I believe that most of the militants are out of the creeks, all the known militant leaders are out and if he knows anything else beyond what we know, I think he needs to disclose to us"
On whether Okah was sincere about the claim that he was the first to embrace amnesty, she added, "He was the first to embrace the amnesty. I cannot speak on his behalf and all I can say is there is peace in the Niger Delta. We want peace to be sustained and deepened and I appeal to him to join every other person who is working for peace in the region so that we can move on with our lives and create the enabling environment for the development of the region and for the participation in the oil and gas sector'.
Giving an update on the rehabilitation process, Agary said, 'I can't give you exact number, but we have them in camps in Rivers and Delta States. There is going to be a meeting with militant leaders tomorrow and I think the picture of the rehabilitation will be discussed with them and thereafter the various programmes will commence. I believe that everything is on course and government is striving to do all it can to make sure that all issues that relates to the militants are addressed and of course the physical issues of development are also addressed so I believe that everything is on course and the documentation process is in progress.
"I am not sure its slow. We had a lot of the militant leaders embracing amnesty on the 3rd and on the 4th and they all have a lot of followers and the documentation process takes some time and we are about to conclude that process and as soon as we conclude the process of documenting the followers of these leaders we will commence the process of training, reorientation and the preliminary process of integration before the programme of individual militants takes place", she said.
Also speaking, Bayelsa State Governor, Timi Sylva said the youths and ex-militants in the region who are being rehabilitated should disregard the threat by Okah and concentrate on the process of peace and building in the areas.
According to him, the amnesty is working as oil exploration has resumed in earnest and oil companies are ready to contribute their quota to the transformation of the region.
Be the first to Write a Comment!
Copyright © 2009 Leadership. All rights reserved. Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media (allAfrica.com). To contact the copyright holder directly for corrections — or for permission to republish or make other authorized use of this material, click here.
AllAfrica aggregates and indexes content from over 125 African news organizations, plus more than 200 other sources, who are responsible for their own reporting and views. Articles and commentaries that identify allAfrica.com as the publisher are produced or commissioned by AllAfrica.
