-DEMAND THEIR GUNS BE RETURNED

By Brakere Birinimighan

Ex-militants from the coastal area of Ondo state have threatened to seize peace and order in the area over supposedly failure by the State and Federal Governments to keep to their side of promise made to them if they surrender their guns on Nov. 27 2017, for Amnesty.

The aggrieved ex-militants in a press statement made available to GbaramatuVoice on Thursday, May 9 2019, alleged that the State and FGs scammed them with the Amnesty Programme, hence they have given them 7 days to fulfill their promise.

The statement was issued and signed by the Coordinator, Disarmed Youths of Ajapa Ese-Odo Local Government Areas of the State, General Ogailo Ibori. The group called on the authorities to return all the arms they submitted when they were lured into the Amnesty Programme, else they would spit fire and brimstone in the state and beyond. 

According to the statement, “We are issuing this press statement because we are tired of the unfulfilled promises of the Ondo State Government that collected our guns since 27th Nov 2017 without any effort to make us benefit from the Amnesty programme of the Federal Government.

“We heeded to the appeal of the Federal and Ondo State Governments through the Deputy Governor, Hon. Agboola Ajayi and the former Commissioner for Lands and Housing, Donald Ojogo.

“The two of them promised to work out Amnesty for us and we thereafter agreed to drop our guns. Up till now, we have been abandoned and no one is talking to us, they have used us and dumped us in the creeks. Since 3years now, Amnesty has been relegated to the background.”

Further, the statement read, “We are using this medium to request the Federal and Ondo State Governments to kindly return our guns that they took from us since 27th Nov 2017 within Seven days.

“We are very serious and we are prepared for anything that will follow. We are saying this because if at the end of the seven days the government does not return our guns they deceived us to submit, we will disturb peace in the entire riverine areas that include Niger Delta. We will cause mayhem in Delta,Ondo, Ogun and Lagos States.

“Your Excellencies, is either you meet our demands by absorbing us into the presidential amnesty program as we have been pleading earlier or we make the Federal and States ungovernable for you.”

Support Quality Journalism in the Niger Delta Region

Join us in our mission to bring development journalism, cultural preservation, and environmental awareness to the forefront. Your contribution makes a difference in the lives of the people of the Niger Delta. Donate today and be a part of the change!