The National Coordinator of the Committee on Implementation of Amnesty for Niger Delta Militants, Air Vice Marshall Lucky O. Ararile, has reiterated President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua’s commitment to ensuring peace in Nigeria especially in the Niger Delta.
Ararile disclosed this at a town hall meeting held in Uyo, as part of his committee’s visit to Akwa Ibom State.
He said that the president’s desire to ensure the return of peace to the Niger Delta, necessitated his consultations with governors and other stakeholders, and the eventual constitution of the committee to implement the presidential amnesty for Niger Delta militants.
He stressed that his committee was going round the affected states of the Niger Delta as part of President Yar’ Adua’s directive to “listen to suggestions and opinions of all stakeholders, even at the grassroots level,” to facilitate proper implementation of the presidential amnesty.
According to Araile, militants would have to indicate their interest to surrender by registering names and submitting their arms at designated centre between the August 6 and October 4, 2009, before they could be considered for amnesty.
He confirmed that repentant militants would be educated and trained in different vocations, as the case may be, for proper reintegration into the society.
The Niger Delta Ministry, he emphasised, would play a major role in the rehabilitation of the militants, in conjunction with the affected states and local governments.
Calling on the Niger Delta militants to embrace the presidential amnesty, Ararile observed that everyone, including the Niger Delta communities, is suffering as a result of the violence occasioned by militancy.
He underscored the need to separate criminality from genuine agitation for the rights of the Niger Delta people.
Acceptance of the amnesty, the committee chairman noted, would promote peace, development and economic growth within the Niger Delta region and in Nigeria as a whole.
Violence, he emphasised, “has to stop for construction firms and other development agencies to fully return to the region.
Responding to questions from participants at the meeting, Ararile expressed the readiness of his committee to meet with militant leaders at mutually agreed locations before August 6, 2009 .
This, he said, would help provide information on the membership strength, as well as the nature and number of arms possessed by respective militant groups.