BY KENNETH EHIGIATOR

ABUJA – The Amnesty Office in the Presidency has dismissed attempts to compare the grievance of members of the Boko Haram sect with that of ex-militants in the Niger Delta.

This position came against the backdrop of call for amnesty for members of the Islamic sect.

A  director in Amnesty Office, Dr. Ferdinand Ikwang, who spoke as 50 ex-Niger Delta militants departed the country for training in Sri Lanka, said every zone of the country should be dealt with on its merit.

Ikwang said no other geo-political zones of the country should use the South-South as a reference to get something for themselves from government.

He  said: “Every zone should be dealt with on its merit. We should also look at what will be of strategic national, economic, and security interests of the country and then what are we looking out for in the future.

“Let us not just be talking today about Boko Haram. If they mean that they have been marginalized and they are the voice of the North then they can go ahead with what they are doing.

“But if their agitation is that they have been marginalized and are bent on destroying the country then I don’t think they are really fighting a cause that will develop their geo-political zone.”

He noted that the Niger Delta struggle was about development but admitted that the programme had not taken care of all the youths in the region.

Consequently, Ikwang said the government should design a programme for youths in each of the nation’s geo-political zones.
“I feel what happened in the South-South was to get that geo-political zone developed and as God would have it we have President Goodluck Jonathan who supported the agenda.

“There will be other programmes in the five remaining geo-political zones that will also uplift the position of the youths in those zones. Don’t forget that 22,192 persons are benefitting from the amnesty; there are other youths in the Niger Delta who have not benefitted anything in this programme”.