Ijaw Youths Oppose President Buhari On Amnesty Deadline

President Muhammadu Buhari

Ijaw youths have opposed President Muhammadu Buhari’s decision to end the amnesty progreamme for ex-Niger Delta militants in December 2015.

The youths under the auspices of the Ijaw Youth Council (IYC) Worldwide decried that the president was terminating the programme without addressing key issues which are dear to the Niger Delta region.

Punch reports that the IYC in a statement on Sunday, May 31, questioned why the deadline set for the termination scheme was coming at a time when some beneficiaries of the scheme were yet to be trained. It asked what will become of those who will be in various stages of training when the scheme is stopped.

It said: “The termination of the programme would throw up challenges for beneficiaries of the programme who are still undergoing training and are at different levels of their training. The IYC expects the Federal Government to address the fear of these classes of ex-agitators who are in different parts of the world and are worried that their training may be affected if the programme is terminated in December, 2015”.

The group expressed disappointment that President Buhari was scrapping the amnesty scheme without taking into consideration the environmental degradation the Niger Delta environment have suffered.

It said before the scheme is scrapped, it should include a laid out plan to clean up the Niger Delta environment as well as tackle the menace of oil theft in the region.

The IYC said though it never expected the amnesty programme to run indefinitely, it however “expects the Federal Government to address the fear of these classes of ex-agitators who are in different parts of the world and are worried that their training may be affected if the programme is terminated in December, 2015.”

Prior to his inauguration, several ex-militant war lords had pleaded with Muhammadu Buhari not to abandon the amnesty programme put in place by ex-President Musa Yar’Adua and continued by President Goodluck Jonathan. They argued that the amnesty programme has proven to be a security stabilising programme for the hitherto restive youths of the Niger Delta region.