Femi Folaranmi, Yenagoa
Ijaw youths from nine states of the Niger Delta region have risen in defence of the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari and the Chairman of the Presidential Amnesty Implantation Committee, Brig. Gen. Paul Boroh, dismissing allegations of shoddy implementation of the presidential amnesty programme.
The Ijaw youths, who are members of Serving and Leading Without Bitterness (SLWB), in a statement signed by Nature Keighe, Paulinus Albany and Teke Iyala, said that funding and implementation of the programme is paying off with the existing peace in the region.
According to the group, criticisms of the Buhari administration and Brig. General. Paul Boroh was due to the alleged fraudulent attitude of some officials of the Amnesty office, however insisting that programme implementation in the region was on course.
They warned that in spite of the performance of the Buhari administration, cases such as the alleged short-charging and depriving of qualified beneficiaries will throw a spanner in the works of of the Amnesty Implementation Committee.
The statement read in part:
“The fragile peace being enjoyed in the region is due to the fulfillment of the promises made by President Muhammadu Buhari and the doggedness of the Amnesty Implementation Committee headed by Brig. General Paul Boroh… But when some persons at the helm of authority start playing to the gallery for immediate gain, it may scuttle the good works of President Buhari in the Amnesty Office and Niger Delta region, and plunge it into another round of pandemonium if immediate steps are not taken.”