President Umaru Yar’Adua will next week proclaim an amnesty for Niger Delta militants who surrender their arms and embrace peace, a presidential spokesman said Thursday.
The announcement came shortly after a meeting between Yar’Adua and members of the presidential panel on the issue.
“After much deliberation, it was decided that the president holds a meeting with the National Council of State next week Thursday after which the proclamation of the amnesty will be made the same day by the president,” his spokesman Olusegun Adeniyi told reporters.
The meeting, which discussed “the roadmap” for the granting of the amnesty, was attended by leaders of the senate and the lower house of parliament, the service chiefs, the ministers of defence and internal affairs and some state governors from the Niger Delta.
The National Council of State comprises former heads of state, senate president, speaker (head) of the lower house of parliament, state governors and chief justice of the federation.
Yar’Adua had on Tuesday in Abuja made a fresh amnesty offer to militants in the oil-rich Niger Delta and promised that an amnesty centre would be set up.
It was the second time this month that Yar’Adua had repeated his offer after it had been rejected by the rebels.
“I make bold to say that it will be a great pleasure for me to personally accept the first militant leader who takes advantage of this amnesty, to encourage others to do so, so that they can have confidence that we are sincere, honest in granting of this amnesty,” he said.
“I welcome any leader and all its members who are ready to accept the granting of amnesty by government,” he added.
Dozens of soldiers and militants have been killed in the past six weeks in clashes as security forces stepped up action against militants of the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND).
The armed group claims to be fighting for a larger share of oil wealth for impoverished communities in the Niger Delta.
The MEND has been accused of being behind a spate of abductions, mostly of foreign oil workers, the theft of crude, extortions and destruction of oil installations and facilities in the region.
The delta unrest has reduced Nigeria’s daily output to 1.76 million barrels compared with 2.6 million barrels in January 2006.