The Presidential Amnesty Office has denied accusations that its officials are selling education or training slots under the Programme. Head of Media and Communication at the Presidential Amnesty Office, Owei Lakemfa in a statement yesterday, said that “no payment whatsoever is required to be eligible  for any programme under the Amnesty project”.

He therefore, urged members of the public to be wary of  fraudsters parading as officials of the Presidential Amnesty Office or purporting to be representing the office. “The Amnesty Office is continuing the biometric verification of  beneficiaries  and is taking steps to exit those who have been successfully reintegrated into society”, he said.

Also, Lakemfa dismissed insinuations in some quarters, linking beneficiaries of the amnesty programme with the violence that erupted during the Bayelsa state polls. “Attempts by some commentators to link the electoral violence during the  just concluded Bayelsa State elections to the Amnesty Programme are specious. Such claims which flow from the flawed assumption that beneficiaries of the Amnesty Programme are criminals,  is a display of ignorance about  the programme. It is a cheap attempt to stigmatize the beneficiaries of the Presidential Amnesty in the Niger Delta”, he said.

He stated that the issue of electoral violence  is not a crime peculiar to Bayelsa State. “Contrary to claims that the electoral violence  in Bayelsa is an indication that the Amnesty Programme has failed, the programme has actually met its objectives.

It was established primarily to end the armed insurrection in the Niger Delta,  ensure unhindered oil production and restore peace as a prerequisite to investment and  the sustainable development of the region. These three basic objectives have been met and what the Amnesty Office is engaged in now is the last phase of the programme which is to sustainably reintegrate the beneficiaries back into society”, he said.