Senate warns of N’Delta militancy

Senate Committee on Niger Delta on has warned of a possible resurgence of militancy in oil producing areas if ex-militants are not properly re-integrated into society at the end of their training.

 

This is even as the Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Mr. Godsday Orubebe, noted that the financial burden of the East-West Road was threatening to consume the entire budget of the ministry.
 

Chairman, Senate Committee on Niger-Delta, Senator James Manager, raised the alarm on Thursday while receiving the Special Adviser to the President on Niger Delta, Kingsley Kuku, who appeared before the Committee to defend the 2013 budget of his office.
 

Manager, who commended the success so far recorded in the amnesty programme, noted that the exercise would amount to nothing if jobs were not provided to integrate the ex-militants into the society.
 

He explained that National Assembly as part of moves to sustain the programme, would in collaboration with governors from the Niger Delta, convene a summit on the Federal Government’s Amnesty Programme.
 

Manager said, “One is scared about some others guys warming up because of this scheme. We are in real trouble even as we celebrate the success of the scheme.
 

“The Amnesty programme is a success. We’ve also gone on oversight to Fubai, Ghana, South Africa and even the United Kingdom. We have interacted with the boys and we are very satisfied with what we saw.”
 

Earlier, during the budget defence, Orubebe cautioned that the Niger Delta Ministry would have no other option but to stop ongoing capital projects if funds were not adequately provided.
 

The minister said notwithstanding the problem being faced, the East-West Road would meet its December 2014 deadline, adding that the ministry would spend N63,415,284,959 next year. The amount according to him, is made up of N61bn and N2,415,284,959 as Capital and Recurrent expenditures respectively.