Plot To Remove Amnesty Boss, Boroh Heightens Tension In N’Delta

Tension is mounting in the Niger Delta following a plot by a section of ex-militant leaders to launch a campaign for the removal of the Coordinator of the Presidential Amnesty Programme (PAP), Brig.-Gen. Paul Boroh (rtd).

The development has however divided the ranks of the Ex-militants as some are rooting for Boroh while others are against him.

Already, one of the group which styled itself as Niger Deltans for Accountability and Good Governance (NDAGG), has set up a Boroh-must-go website (http://www.ndagg) to push its case against the coordinator.

It accused the amnesty coordinator of denying ex-militants their entitlements.

Nation newspaper reported that another group, rooting for Boroh, Niger Delta Concerned Ex-agitators (NDCE), in a statement in Yenagoa, on Saturday warned the anti-Boroh elements to forget the protests and support the Buhari government.

The paper reported that also backing Boroh are ex-militant leaders of phases 2 and 3 who met in Port Harcourt, Rivers State.

The anti-Boroh group, NDAGG, plans to kick-start what it calls the mother of all protests against Boroh on Wednesday, July 5.

Follow up protests will be held at a two weeks interval.

One of such protests is scheduled for the front of Abuja House, South Kensington, London, England, where the agitators believe President Muhammadu Buhari is currently recuperating.

Another is scheduled for Consulate General of Nigeria in New York, United States of America (USA).

The group also plans to block the Mbiama axis of the East-West road, NUJ Office Warri, Delta State and Isaac Boro Park, Port Harcourt, Rivers State.

The group believes it can mobilize over 100,000 Niger Delta youths for the protests.

The group accused the amnesty office of massive fraud and using fake names for empowerment.

But the opposing group, NDCE, in a statement by its Secretary, Perewari Johnson, the paper reported condemned “any form of protest that some persons are planning to embark upon against the Boroh-led Amnesty programme.”

It urged “all well-meaning stakeholders and citizens not to allow people with selfish interest to use them against their fellow Niger-Delta son who has done so well.”

It branded those clamouring for the removal of Boroh as enemies of the development of people in the region.

“They are only antagonizing Boroh’s regime in the amnesty office because unlike his predecessors he has refused to succumb to their demand to award contract that will not be executed and to share monies made for the empowerment and human capacity development of the Niger Delta region,” NDCE said.

It asked security agencies to stop the planned protest in the interest of the peace and commended the federal government for ensuring sustained peace in the region.

The ex-agitators said they were happy that the government took the right steps including increasing the budgetary allocation to the Presidential Amnesty Programme (PAP) by N30bn to stop violent agitations in the region.

They noted that the peace deal had resulted in government’s increased attention to the region and the training and employment of over 200 youths under the PAP.

They pleaded for continued peace in the region and said: “We have confidence in the ability of the coordinator of the amnesty programme as he has been very meticulous in implementing the programme for the benefit of all former agitators and the region at large in the past two years which has translated to lasting peace in the region.