Dikio’s strategies promoting peace in Niger Delta, says JTF

The Joint Task Force (JTF), Operation Delta Safe, has said the strategies adopted by the Interim Administrator, Presidential Amnesty Programme (PAP), Col. Milland Dixon Dikio (rtd), is promoting peace in the Niger Delta.

Speaking at the weekend when the amnesty boss paid him a courtesy visit in Yenagoa, Bayelsa State, the JTF Commander, Rear Admiral Aminu Hassan, attributed the calm in the oil-rich region to Dikio’s constant engagement with ex-agitators and his prompt payment of their monthly stipends.

Describing the amnesty office as critical to the sustenance of peace in the area, Hassan said Dikio was making the job of JTF easier by giving ex-militants a sense of belonging.

His words: “Your area of assignment is of interest to us because whatever is happening there has a ripple effect on us. If there is peace in the work you are doing, we can feel the peace and we can also touch it and know there is peace. But if there is no peace, we are the first line of defence for that.

“But we can see there is peace. We appreciate your good work. Some of us have been following all you have been doing in that area. Since you took over, there have been two key strategies you adopted that I believe are the way to go.”

“One is that you are always around the ex-agitators and that is a very good strategy. You are always with them. You hear from them and you talk with them. We are all human beings and all of us need that sense of belonging and when we have it, it reduces tension and pressure.

“Second, is the regular payment of stipends. It is another key area and I am encouraging you to always continue along that line. These two areas of continuous engagement and regular payment of stipends are very important and they are really solving a lot of problems.”

Earlier Dikio explained that his visit was part of his ‘Return to the Region Tour’, a programme he initiated last year to integrate all critical stakeholders into his vision to actualise the original mandate of PAP.