The Administrator of the Presidential Amnesty Programme (PAP), Dennis Otuaro, has urged ex-agitators who enrolled in the programme to avoid anything that would be inimical to the peace and security of the Niger Delta.
Otuaro emphasised the importance of avoiding actions that could undermine the objectives of the PAP. The administrator made this charge at a stakeholders’ meeting with former agitators in Warri, Delta State, yesterday, with the theme, ‘Fostering, Consolidating and Collaborating for the Peace, Security, Stability and Development of the Niger Delta.’
The Special Assistant on Media, Igoniko Oduma, in a statement, yesterday, said that participants at the meeting included leaders from all phases of the PAP.
Otuaro stressed that all stakeholders in the region must work towards this goal and consolidate the success of the amnesty programme to prevent the Niger Delta from relapsing into the pre-amnesty years of serious conflicts and violence, which negatively impacted the region and the country.
“Sustaining the peace and security of the Niger Delta is the mandate of the amnesty programme, and we must do this for our communities, our children and their children,” Otuaro said.
The PAP was established in 2009 to disarm, demobilise and reintegrate former Niger Delta agitators. The first two phases of the programme have been completed, with the Amnesty Office now tasked with the reintegration of former agitators into the society and providing institutional support for impacted communities in the Niger Delta.
