The Presidential Amnesty Office says it has uncovered a plan to defraud unsuspecting beneficiaries of the amnesty programme for former agitators in the Niger Delta.

In a disclaimer  by the Head of Media and Communications, Mr Daniel Alabrah, the Amnesty Office said the fraudsters send text messages entitled: “Important Amnesty Message” to beneficiaries and delegates under the programme, claiming that they have been “designated for the Empowerment Payout Scheme” and directed them to visit a website.

The beneficiaries were also requested to pay N3,000 as processing fee to a designated bank account for the payment of N5,000,000 as “Empowerment Start-Up Grant/Niger Delta Ex-Agitators Bonus Empowerment Payout.”
The Amnesty Office distanced itself from the information, saying it did not send such message to any beneficiary or delegate and that there was no plan to pay them such amount of money now or in future.
It urged beneficiaries to be wary of scammers, who have been unrelenting in their attempts to reap where they did not sow.

The Office said the appropriate security agencies had been notified of the development and that they had commenced investigation.