A total of 18,163 ex-militants in the Niger Delta region have been trained at the Post-Amnesty Training Camp in Obubra, Cross River.
The camp’s Commandant, Frederick Anesah, told newsmen in Obubra on Sunday that the number includes members in the programme’s Batch 15.
He added that the number also comprises 1,500 of the repentant militants currently undergoing training at the camp.
Anesah said the Batch 15 trainees were drawn from Bayelsa and would end their training on August 12.
He stated that the 18,163 beneficiaries of the post-amnesty rehabilitation programme were part of the 20,192 repentant militants shortlisted for the transformational training at the camp.
“The trainees currently in camp are well-behaved, and none of them has defaulted on camp rules,’’ he said.
The camp commandant commended the Federal Government for the facelift recently given to the Obubra camp.
He said this had further demonstrated government’s commitment to the amnesty programme.
“The Special Adviser to the President on Niger Delta Affairs and Chairman of Federal Government’s Amnesty Committee, Kingsley Kuku, came here and promised to provide recreational facilities for the trainees, in addition to the existing ones.
“He is doing just that, as the football field and the volleyball pitch are right now being constructed and, in the next few days, they will be ready for use,” Anesah said.
He disclosed that plans were on for a befitting celebration of the anniversary of the amnesty programme which would be two years old on Oct. 4, 2011.
“The programme will be two years on Oct. 4 and we are planning to celebrate it for the successes that have been recorded since its inception,’’ the camp commandant said. (NAN)