Ex-militants at war over Boroh’s continued stay as amnesty boss

As the military combs the creeks of the Niger Delta in search of those behind the renewed hostilities and bombing of key oil installations, ex-militant leaders are busy warring over the continued stay in office of the Chairman of the Federal Government Presidential amnesty programme, Brig. Gen. Paul Boroh. The ex-militants leaders from the nine states in the region are bickering over recent moves by top politicians in the state to remove and replace Boroh, who they accused of not ‘doing enough to put a stop to the renewed violence and militancy in the region.

While a group of ‘ex-generals’ under the auspices of the Concerned Ex-Militant Leaders for Peace and Conflict Resolution (CELPAR), slammed politicians for their involvement in the call for the sack of Boroh, another group of ex-militant generals under the aegis of the Amnesty Beneficiaries for Progress, Peace and Development (ABPPD), described the recent calls for the sack and replacement of Paul Boroh as necessary and needed in order to end the renewed insurgency. CELPAR said the sponsors of the “Boroh must go” campaign was clearly behind the renewed insurgency in the region. CELPAR, led by its state coordinators, Comrade Youpele James (Delta), Comrade John John (Bayelsa), Akapaka Lagos (Edo) and Junior General Pius Deinfagh (Rivers), in an open letter to President Mohammad Buhari and made available to newsmen via email, urged the President to shun the ongoing campaign of calumny against the Amnesty office and investigate the sponsors of the wicked campaign. It said the groups being used by the faceless sponsors of the campaign are politicians who are not known to the people of the Niger Delta. ABPPD, in its own statement signed by General Yebogha Ayibatare, said the recent events in the Niger Delta region and the lack of support from the Presidential Amnesty Committee under Boroh, is a sign of lack of proper coordination.

The statement said Boroh, instead of ensuring a sincere and holistic implementation of the amnesty deal, has instead, continued to promote division among ex-agitators, who have now become renegades and have started expressing their anger with bombings.