Hundreds of crying mothers from the nine states of the Niger Delta region yesterday staged a protest against the dismissal of the 13 ex-militant youths trained as pilots by the Lufthansa Airline Training School in Frankfurt, Germany due to the refusal of the federal government to pay the Amnesty Training Fees and scholarship grants.
The 13 ex-militants from the Niger Delta region undergoing commercial pilot training at the Lufthansa Flight Training School in Frankfurt, were last week sent away from the institution over non-payment of fees. Other ex-militant youths from the region have also been sent packing by their various institutions in South Africa, Russia, Germany, Ukraine and other countries in Europe.
The protesting women from some coastal communities, during a protest march to the office of the Ex-militant leaders known as the Leadership, Peace and Cultural Development Initiative (LPCDI), said President Muhammadu Buhari should be held responsible if there is resurgence of violence in the Niger Delta region.
“We are warning Buhari that as mothers, we are already feeling the heat and the gathering of disgruntled youths in our communities. The refusal to pay the Amnesty training fees is causing problems in our homes and communities.”
One of the protesting women, Madam Ebiere Ankiomete, warned that though President Muhammadu Buhari’s actions so far give more hope to the people of the region, “he has refused to appoint a substantive chairman of the Presidential Amnesty Committee to liase with the Federal Ministry of Finance to pay the Amnesty Training Fund. If the appointment is delayed till September, the Amnesty beneficiaries in institutions abroad would have been denied approved trainings”.
Addressing the aggrieved women, the president of the Leadership, Peace and Cultural Development Initiatives (PCDI), Ex-Militant commander, Pastor Reuben Wilson, appealed for calm and called on President Buhari not to allow the Presidential Amnesty Programme disintegrate by starving it of funds to meet the aims and objectives of the olive branch offered to ex-agitators in the oil rich Niger Delta to pave way for harmony and smooth oil production which is the main source of the nation’s revenue.
According to Pastor Reuben, “The passionate appeal comes on the heels of avalanche of complaints received by the indigent parents of the Amnesty beneficiaries home and abroad that their children and wards are currently experiencing hardship due to lack of funds for the programme. Mr President should not to lose sight of the issue that brought about the PAP and save it from total collapse.
Mr. President, we use this medium to remind you and the good people of Nigeria of promises to the people of Niger Delta about positive changes. Nigerians have since voted you into power because they need change but from what we have seen so far, we have reasons to doubt how soon, if at all, the change will come”.
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