Youths warn against peddling false information about Amnesty boss

Following recent campaign of calumny allegedly sponsored by ‘failed contractors’ using some sacked staff of the Presidential Amnesty Office against the Special Adviser to the President on Niger Delta and Coordinator of the Presidential Amnesty Programme,

Brigadier General Paul Boroh (Rtd), youths in the Niger Delta region under the backing of the Reformed Ex-Niger Delta Agitators Forum, have again warned that they will no longer tolerate “self-seeking politicians drag the name of the Amnesty boss in the mud.”

In a statement on Sunday by the Liaison Officer of the programme in the Niger Delta, Mr Piriye Kiyaramo, said the Chairman of the Reformed Ex-Niger Delta Agitators Forum,

Mr. George Gbala who condemned a recent statement credited to one Timi Angalabiri, pointed out that “while whistle blowing remains an essential ingredient to any democratic system of government,

unethical and irresponsible whistle blowing acts by unscrupulous individuals with the sole aim of either causing disaffection in the polity or blackmailing a public officer for personal aggrandizement, should not be allowed.

He said that such act could be misleading and counterproductive, particularly in a time when the federal government was doing its best to address the critical issues confronting the region.

Gbala, a beneficiary of the Presidential Amnesty Programme, hinted that “what these failed contractors in collaboration with some sacked staff of the Amnesty Office are trying to do is to whip up

sentiments against the person of Gen. Boroh and the Amnesty Office, knowing that an ill-informed society will always be vulnerable to such concocted lies and cheap blackmails.

The youth leader said he is aware that the Amnesty Office has trained well over 5,000 persons in the area of capacity development in education, in addition to others trained in various skill areas such as agriculture, automobile engineering, aviation, sports and entrepreneurship development.

He maintained that all transactions in the Amnesty Office under Gen. Boroh followed due process, contrary to the unsubstantiated allegations made against the Special Adviser to the President on Niger Delta

and Coordinator of the Presidential Amnesty Programme by sacked staff being sponsored by failed contractors, informing that the Amnesty Office under its new boss has paid all debts, including those owed by previous administration.

According to him, “on assumption of office, Gen. Boroh developed an exit strategy in order to achieve sustainable reintegration of the 30,000 ex-agitators captured in the programme, with a view to providing sustainable livelihood through various educational and vocational empowerment packages”.

While commending President Muhammadu Buhari for sustaining the Amnesty programme, he noted that the ongoing vocational trainings for delegates of the programme serve as channel for entrepreneurial skills acquisition,

geared towards improving the economic situation in the Niger Delta region, through production and distribution of goods and services in different areas of specialization, with a view to sustaining peace, stability and development in the region.