SAN FRANCISCO, November 04, (THEWILL) – The Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Usani Nguru Usani, Friday described the Amnesty Programme organized by state governments for militants and cultists in the Niger Delta as a fraud that does not have any impact, lamenting that the Amnesty programme has been abused by the state governments.
He faulted the manner the state governments granted pardon to criminal elements parading as militants, stressing that the exercise does not enjoy the backing of the Federal Government or his Ministry and therefore is “null and void”.
The Imo and Rivers governments had recently initiated an amnesty programme in their domains which saw militants who surrendered their arms, being granted pardoned.
But speaking with newsmen after a workshop in Owerri, the Imo state capital, the Niger Delta minister said, “It is unfortunate that the amnesty programme has been misused and abused. From my own understanding, what is happening is not amnesty. Any criminal cannot just go and carry his grand-father’s arms and after terrorizing the community for a while, he is granted amnesty.
“The amnesty has been abused, in my own view, it has really been abused. Somebody goes to carry his grandfather’s gun that he used in fighting the 2nd world-war to present and say it’s amnesty, that is nonsense to me, this is my take on this amnesty thing that I see happening around.”
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