Niger Delta stakeholders have urged the Federal Government to immediately release the N80 billion compensation negotiated for Agge Community in Ekeremor Local Council Area of Bayelsa State, warning that further delay could trigger fresh youth restiveness and threaten peace in the oil-rich region.
 
The stakeholders said the compensation, arising from a Federal High Court judgment regarding military operations in the community in 2008 and 2009, should be treated as a priority, given its implications for security and stability in the Niger Delta.
 
Leading the call, one of the community leaders appealed to the Federal Government to bring the matter to a close, noting that community leaders had spent years managing frustrations among affected residents and youths.
 
Similarly, a community representative urged the government to honour the negotiated settlement reached after extensive discussions between community representatives and federal officials.
 
Their intervention follows the emergence of official documents indicating that the Ministry of Defence has requested the Ministry of Finance and the Coordinating Minister of the Economy to release N80 billion to settle the judgment debt arising from Suit No. FHC/YNG/CS/187/2022, Fred Bebese Imiekumor & 3 Ors vs the President and Commander-in-Chief of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
 
In a letter signed by the Defence Minister, General Christopher Musa (retd.), the ministry disclosed that the N80 billion settlement was inadvertently omitted from an earlier list of outstanding presidential approvals forwarded to the Ministry of Finance for payment.
 
The ministry subsequently requested the inclusion and payment of the sum to settle the debt.