Unpaid allowances: Niger Delta Ex-militants threatens to return to creeks

Aggrieved ex-Niger Delta militants undergoing electric power transformer repairs and maintenance training under the Presidential Amnesty Programme have vowed to return to violence in the creeks of Niger Delta over non-payment of training allowances.
Spokesperson for the group, Bera Barden, said they are at a crossroad as they had not been equipped with skills that can empower them to contribute meaningfully to the development of the nation having gone through two stages of the amnesty programme.
He said, “As we speak, we are in the middle of the last phase which is reintegration.
“We resumed on July 23, 2019 only to be asked to go home on October 31, 2019 due to lack of funding and/or refusal to pay contractual obligations to contractors.
“Remarkably, under the President Muhammadu Buhari administration, a $307.5m worth transformer factory has been initiated in conjunction with a Chinese bank.
“As we speak, 60 Nigerian engineers are in China undergoing training in transformer manufacturing.
“We want President Buhari to urgently intervene in terms of funding.
“We call on the office of the Special Adviser to the President on Niger Delta to within the next seven working days commence payment to the contractor/consultant in order for training to resume and enable us reintegrate fully into the society and take care of ourselves and families.
“Failure to heed our advice to release funds to enable us resume classes shall push us to take this agitation to another level.”