From Femi Folaranmi, Yenagoa
Some Niger Delta militants have declared that they would return to the creeks if the Federal Government refused to absorb them into the Presidential Amnesty programme.
Tambo Timilaemi, aka General Kokori, who had camps in Ekeremor Local Government Area of Bayelsa State, expressed disappointment that six years after he convinced his boys to embrace the amnesty programme in 2011, government had refused to include them in the programme.
Kokori, in an interview in Yenagoa, said militants under him were running out of patience and could no longer tolerate official foot-dragging.
He explained that several meetings with the former coordinator, Kingsley Kuku and the new Special Adviser to the President on Niger Delta Affairs and Coordinator of the Presidential Amnesty programme, had not yielded the desired fruits.
While pointing out that he had refrained from threatening the Federal Government, he declared that if by October 1, if militants under him were not included in the amnesty programme, they would have no option than to go back to the creeks.
“I am standing for other militant generals neglected by the amnesty programme, who are suffering and waiting for inclusion in the amnesty programme. When we dropped our arms, we were promised that we would be included, but up till now we have not been included. I don’t want to use threat, because we have embraced amnesty, but if the Federal Government refuses to attend to our plea by October 1, we would go back to the creeks,” Kokori said.