By Jimitota Onoyume & Festus Ahon

PORT HARCOURT— Niger Delta Development Commission, NDDC, yesterday appealed to militants in the region to sheathe their swords, saying the Federal Government was determined to make a significant difference in the region.

This came as Governor Ifeanyi Okowa of Delta State said kidnapping had reduced in the state as a result of an onslaught on kidnappers’ dens by security operatives.

Okowa spoke when the Principal of Petroleum Training Institute, PTI, Effurun, Prof. Sunny Iyuke, led top management of the institution to pay him a courtesy visit.

While decrying a situation where most of the arrested kidnappers “are young men and are not from the southern part of the country,” the governor called for vigilance among the people of the state.

Militants vs Buhari

NDDC

For the NDDC, its Chairman, Senator Victor Ndoma-Egba, spoke when the alumni association of Cross River State University of Technology, CRUTECH, paid him a courtesy visit at the commission’s headquarters in Port Harcourt.

He said President Muhammadu Buhari had increased budgetary provisions for the region for the year, noting that it was a clear indication of the resolve of the President to impact positively on the region.

According to him: “If you look at the 2016 budget, there is a marginal increase in everything concerning the region.

“Allocation to Niger Delta Ministry went up, the budget of the NDDC went up, and the budget of the Amnesty Programme went up. Now, something is being done with some urgency on the completion of the East-West Road. We have the Lagos-Calabar rail line and recently the Vice President Prof. Yemi Osinbajo visited Delta State and gave very firm assurances that the problems of the region will be addressed urgently.”