February 14, (THEWILL) – Ex-agitators under the Presidential Amnesty Programme (PAP), Phase 2 beneficiaries, have vowed not to be deterred by the arrest of its members until the alleged monumental fraud in the Amnesty office is exposed.
The newly elected leadership of the Phase 2 beneficiaries, inaugurated barely three weeks ago, said they will not rest until there’s a reorganisation of the policies and programme to benefit the real beneficiaries and fulfil the essence of its existence.
In a statement signed and issued on Wednesday, the Publicity Secretary of the Phase 2 ex-agitators, Passman Akpos, said: “The newly elected National Chairman, PAP, Phase 2, Gen. John Esuku, has been arrested by the directive of the Interim Administrator of the Presidential Amnesty Programme, PAP, Maj.Gen. Barry Tariye Ndiomu (retd).
“The leadership of the Phase 2 is barely a few weeks into its tenure. We just hinted that we will ensure things are done rightly according to the dream of the initiators of the programme. Would that have caused the arrest of our Chairman? John Esuku was in his hotel room in APO, Abuja when the policemen arrived, well armed, and ransacked the whole De-suit hotel to arrest the National Chairman.
“He asked questions on why he’s been arrested and where he was taken but all he could get was a severe beating and a response that why is he frustrating Amnesty.
“I was also in the same hotel but I went outside to attend to other urgent issues. On reaching the entrance, I was told to hide that policemen from the Amnesty office came and whisked the National Chairman away.
“We know where the arrest is from because the National Chairman, Phase II, John Esuku, and the National Exco dragged the Amnesty Boss, Maj. Gen. Barry Tariye Ndiomu, to the National House of Representatives on the alleged fraud committed against the Ex-agitators by the Amnesty Office.
“The date of our meeting is slated for Wednesday, the 14th of February 2024, all the National Executive members of phase II, so they wanted to distract our plans by arresting us but we are not deterred. We have incriminating evidence against the leadership of the Amnesty Office which is why they are doing everything to silence our voices in order to prevent them from going to the House of Representatives.
“Earlier, Ndiomu had arrested the National vice Chairman of Phase II, Self-style Gen Julius Belemu, using tactical means, and now he has proceeded to arrest the National Chairman of Phase II, all to intimidate and silence the voice of the ex-agitators in order to enable Ndiomu for further looting and exploitation of the Amnesty Office at the detriment of the ex-agitators whom the programme was created for.
“We, therefore, call on the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, His Excellency, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, and IJaw leaders to, as a matter of urgency, call Ndiomu to order or better still sack him before things get out of hand. While also calling for the immediate release of the National Chairman, John Esuku, that there is no going back until the glory of the ex-agitators is rekindled once again.”
In their separate views, the Bayelsa State Chairman, Phase 2, Gen. Paul Johnson, and his Delta State counterpart, Solomon Adu, condemned the arrest and also called for his immediate release.
Reacting, the Special Adviser to the Interim Administrator of the Presidential Amnesty Programme (PAP), Friston Akpo, said the issue of alleged fraud is something people keep saying without proof, adding that there are no fraud allegations.
Akpo said that the Interim Administrator runs the office openly and every activity is in the public domain, adding: “We are very transparent in everything so the issue of fraud doesn’t arise from anywhere.”
He denied knowledge of the arrest, saying, “We are not aware of any arrest, we are not part of it and we don’t want to be part of it.”
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