BY DOTUN IBIWOYE

A DISSIDENT member of  the John Togo-led militant group in Ayankromoh in Bayelsa State which did not embrace the amnesty programme, Kelvin Ossai, has said that he was forced to come back to the South due to the threat of Boko Haram.

In a chat with Vanguard Metro, Ossai said after he fled the creeks of the Niger Delta, he was forced to move from one part of the country to the other in search of refuge following the betrayal he suffered in the hands of different people.

According to him: “I was a member of a militant group in Ayankromoh Bayelsa State led by John Togo who is presently on the run. One night as we were about to sleep, I confided in a comrade that I was getting tired of the struggle and that we should have embraced the government’s amnesty programme instead of running around.

“The next morning, I was asked to see the camp commander. This got me thinking because I know what happened to those that didn’t support our unit’s position when government first announced the amnesty. So I knew I had been betrayed and had to run for my dear life”.

He continued: “When I travelled to the North, I did not know how many people got to know that I was a militant. Recently there have been several threats to my life. So, immediately after the Christmas day bombing in Niger State, I had to leave the North. Several of my neighbours told me that strange people often came to my house in Kaduna asking of a man that fitted my description.

“On two occasions, my apartment was vandalised and the witnesses told me that the men that came were holding swords and daggers and I was told that they injured several people. I initially felt that they were armed robbers or assassins but they did not steal anything and their manner of operation was strange.

“I was told to leave town, that the Joint Task Force, JTF,  was looking for me and have been to our family house. At this point I knew I had to leave. It was obvious I had been sold out by my erstwhile superiors, making me an easy target for the Boko haram sect.