By Ochuko Akuopha

OLEH—SIX years after the inception of the Presidential Amnesty Program, ex-militants on the aegis of Justice Group, have decried their alleged non-inclusion in the programme.

Chairman of the group, self-styled Gen. David Ogwegbe, alleged that 3,284 members of the group were among 30,000 ex-militants that embraced the programme, lamenting that none of them had been integrated into the amnesty programme.

He said they identified with the programme at the 3 Battalion of the Nigerian Army, Effurun, Delta State, in 2011 and “confirmed in the Joint Task Force, JTF report, but up till now,  we have not been documented and integrated into the amnesty programme.

“We wrote series of letters to the former Special Adviser to the President on Amnesty Programme, Mr. Kingsley Kuku, but to no avail. Later, we were referred to JTF headquarters in Yenagoa, Bayelsa State, but the JTF advised us to forward our request to the office of Special Adviser to the President on Amnesty Programme but nothing has happened.”

“We have also written letters to the present Coordinator of the programme, Brigadier General Paul Boro on the matter. We were at the Senate Public Hearing held in Abuja and we submitted our memorandum but nothing has been done about it.

“We appeal to the Federal Government and General Boro to integrate us into the programme and commence payment of our monthly stipends and other benefits.”