Chairman of the Presidential Amnesty Programme, and Special Adviser to the President on Niger Delta, Brigadier General Paul Boroh, has come under attack with the calls for his immediate removal and extensive probe of the amnesty programme under his leadership since he was appointed by President Muhammadu, Buhari.
This call is coming from Ijaw Collectives, a group of Niger Delta Environmental Activists, in a Statement issued today in PortHarcourt, Rivers State. The group says it has observed that the gains recorded in the area of Peace and Stability over the past few years, particularly since the intervention of Late President Umar Musa Yar’adua, which saw an enduring peace retuned to the region, have virtually become completely eroded since General Boroh took over as the Chairman of the Presidential Amnesty programme.
As genuine Stakeholders in the region, we have observed that the current state of things in the region, is not only rather assuming a disturbing level but a clear indictment on the choice of General Paul Boroh for that office, and a wake-up call for President Muhammadu Buhari to investigate the matter and take immediate action.
There is no doubt that the gross incompetence of General Boroh as the Chairman of the Presidential Amnesty Programme have resulted into the recent resurgence of Militant activities in the Niger Delta region, leading to a monumental pollution of our environments and a colossal loss of revenue for our dear nation.
The group also claimed that it has it on good authority, that the Special Adviser to the President on Niger Delta, have been inciting some former militant leaders, and the latest gang known as the Niger Delta Avengers, for personal gains, at the detriment of the collective interest of the region, and the Nation at large.
Whatever General Boroh, claims to be his success at the Amnesty office today, is a total sham as according to the group, a good number of the repentant militants who were sent abroad under the programme are today, stranded all over the world, due to the inability of the Amnesty office to address their needs.
The group therefore appeal to President Buhari to consider the larger interest of the people of Niger Delta and Nigeria at large, by removing General Paul Boroh since all indications have shown that he is completely alien to the challenges confronting the region and have chosen to administer the Amnesty Office exclusively from Abuja without any strong link with genuine actors in the prevailing situations in the Niger Delta. We also advise President Buhari to take active steps by working with the governors and leaders of the region, in order to identify to responsible for the ongoing attacks in the region, with intent of working out a non-violent solution in the interest of the downtrodden people of the Niger Delta communities, particularly the women and our children.
“Recent events, including the arrest of two members of the Niger Delta Avengers by Chief Government Ekpemupolo aka Tompolo have shown that, all that is required of the Federal Government is to appoint a competent hand to be in charge of the Presidential Amnesty programme in order to save the government from engaging in any needless military operation. May we also remind the Federal government of the recent embarrassment created by the arrest of some workers of Chevron oil company who were mistaken for the Niger Delta Avengers. There is no doubt that people and leaders of the various communities can be instrumental in identifying these criminal, but this can only be achieved if such person Advising President Buhari on Niger Delta, is one who is in touch with the Niger delta and its people, unlike General Paul Boroh” the Statement concluded.