Soldiers Kill Niger-Delta Militants In Foropa, Bayelsa

 

Isa Ado, spokesman of Operation Pulo Shield – the joint force in the Niger Delta – on Tuesday said many militants were killed during an exchange of gunfire with soldiers in Bayelsa state.

Ado said a combined team of suspected militants and sea pirates, attacked his men in Foropa, a community in Southern Ijaw local government area of the state.

He said three soldiers were killed in the incident, revealing that troops had been stationed in the community since 2010.

Desist From Pipeline Vandalism or Face Full Weight of the Law – Military Warns Niger Delta Militants

The Defence Headquarters has observed with dismay the unpatriotic attacks on the nation’s economic lifeline in the Niger Delta.

In a statement by Brigadier General Rabe Abubakar, the Acting Director Defence Information, he said these attacks were carried out by some criminal elements, who were bent on destroying the nation’s strategic assets.

“The recent attacks on an oil facility in Delta state is a pointer to this direction. For the avoidance of doubt, the DHQ warns these criminal elements to desist from these unwholesome act of economic sabotage in the Niger Delta region for the overall benefits of the country.

Nigeria Will Go Up in Flames If Amnesty Budget is Slashed

Ex-Militants Threaten FG

Former Niger Delta militants under the umbrella of Presidential Amnesty Phase II, yesterday warned against an alleged plan by the Federal Government to slash the 2016 budget of the Presidential Amnesty Office.

The ex-agitators, who comprised those in the 6166 Presidential Amnesty Phase II, 3142 and 20192 ex-militants Phase III and Phase I, stated that the proposed N20bn for the initiative was unacceptable to them.

While calling on the Federal Government to respect the Memorandum of Understanding, MoU, it signed with them, they lamented that the proposed amount could not cater for their monthly stipends.

The ex-militants, who marched through the streets of Warri, Delta State on Monday in a peaceful protest, carried placards with inscriptions such as “Senate President, beg President to leave the amnesty budget alone;”

“We say no to the plan to reduce the amnesty budget;” “Buhari, please don’t force us to go back to the creeks;” “Saraki, leave our budget alone;” “Ex-militants reject the 2016 amnesty budget;” “The amnesty budget should increase and not reduce”.

The National Chairman of the 6166 Presidential Amnesty Phase II, Gen. Aso Tambo, while speaking with newsmen in Warri, accused the President Muhammadu Buhari-led Federal Government of allegedly slashing their monthly allowance in its current budget to N20bn as against the N68bn budgeted for the office last year.

Tambo said, “Our problem is that we have been receiving budget of this programme from October 4, 2009 till today and our budget used to be N86bn. Last year it was N68bn. But this year, we were reliably informed that the 2016 budget for the programme is N20bn.

“If they are giving presidential amnesty programme a budget of N20bn, we don’t know what the Federal Government wants to use the money for because N24bn is what they use in paying the N65,000 monthly stipend of the 30,000 ex-militants. So, if you are giving a budget of N20bn, we don’t know what they want to use the money for. Is it for our stipend or is it to push us to the creeks to go and fight a war? Or they want to use the money to buy arms for us to go and fight Boko Haram?

“That is why we decided to stage a peaceful protest. We want to use this medium to tell the Federal Government that they should reverse the budget. We know what amnesty stipend is. Amnesty stipend is N65,000. When you multiply that by 30,000 it will amount to about N1.9bn monthly. So if you put it together in 12 months you will arrive at about N24bn and above. So we don’t know why the Federal Government has approved N20bn.”

He warned the Buhari-led government to leave the Amnesty Programme alone if it wants to sustain the peace initiated by the late President Yar’Adua in 2009.

The ex-agitator further stated that the alleged reduction in their monthly stipends had reached “a provocative climax.”

Source: Daily Post News