LAGOS: Amnesty Office to Disarm 1,500 Militants in Arepo

Source: THISDAY LIVE

The Presidential Amnesty Office has disclosed that no fewer than 1,500 militants in the Arepo-Lagos axis are to be disarmed soon, having opted for peace.

Arepo in Ogun State is a border community with Lagos and has been an epicentre of violent and often bloody skirmishes by armed gangs, who are involved in pipelines vandalism in recent years.

The Coordinator of the Presidential Amnesty Programme (PAP) and Special Adviser to the President on Niger Delta, Brig-Gen. Paul Boroh (rtd), said in Abuja yesterday that the process of disarming about 1,500 armed people in Arepo was in motion.

The militants had decided to lay down their arms and embrace peace.

Although Boroh could not provide an accurate figure of militants ready for disarmament in other states, he however, disclosed that some of them were also on the verge of being disarmed in Cross River, Bayelsa, Akwa Ibom, Delta  and Rivers States.

According to him, some of the contact persons to the militants in the other states in the South-South had been linking up with the Amnesty Office on disarmament.

He unfolded his plans to write the Presidency for permission to receive the arms and ammunition from the wiling militants since it was in the interest of the country to ensure that such dangerous weapons are mopped up.

Some of the militants intending to disarm, he added were displaced people from Bakassi in Cross River State.

Boroh said that the willingness of the several militants opting to lay down their arms followed the success story of the Amnesty Programme.

While commending President Muhammadu Buhari for his commitment to peace and stability in the Niger Delta through the sustenance of the programme, Boroh said: “Since my appointment, I have come up with pragmatic steps towards ensuring stability in the Niger Delta region.

“For example, I am Making a letter to the appropriate higher authorities to allow for disarmament at Arepo, Lagos; there are also some elements that want to do the same in Delta, Bayelsa, Akwa Ibom, Cross Rivers. and others.

“Some of those persons were displaced from Bakassi, some were armed and ready to disarm as well. It is more so because the Amnesty Programme is succeeding. Also, it is in the interest of the country that more people are disarming. 

“A total 1,500 to disarm are to disarm at Arepo. The figure is huge and frightening. In Delta, I am not too sure of the exact number, a verification has to be made. But there is a point of contact with them. It is also the same in the other areas. We must appreciate the President for the sustenance its of this Programme.”

On whether the militants that are soon to be disarmed would be incorporated into the ongoing programme which has 30,000 beneficiaries, Boroh stated that the amnesty programme was security-inclined.

He said they needed not to necessarily come under the same nomenclature, advocating a different name and platform to take care of them.

The presidential aide said everything must be done to sustain peace in the Niger Delta region in particular and the nation in general.

But he pointed out that in seeking to entrench peace, a wrong signal must not be given that carrying of arms is a licence to benefit from amnesty.

Giving an update of the Amnesty Programme since it rolled off in 2009, Boroh said the first two components of the DDR (Disarmament, Demobilisation and Reintegration) had been successfully attained, leaving the last phase-Reintegration.

Of the 30,000 beneficiaries of the programme, Boroh said 17,000 had successfully completed their various training.
He stated that a well thought-out and pragmatic exit strategy had been put in place by his office to ensure that beneficiaries live success lives thereafter.

According to him, so far, over 3,322  beneficiaries of the programme had been successfully reintegrated through a well-planned exit strategy and already given starter packs to run businesses of their choice.