By FESTUS AHON

UGHELLI— URHOBO ex-militant group has called on the Federal Government to be transparent and objective in ensuring the total integration of all members of the third phase of the amnesty programme as captured by the Joint Task Force, JTF, in the Niger Delta region.

Frowning at the proposed inclusion of only 3,642 ex-militants into the third phase of the programme, the group insisted that the figure does not reflect reasonable percentage of the total population of ex-militants that were yet to be integrated into the amnesty programme.

The group in a statement by its leaders, Wise Onobruchere, Eddy Goodnews and Ebuo Ata said: “The third phase ex-militants are the angry gods of the region and should be handled carefully in order to ensure that peace is sustained in the region.”

“The amnesty authority and the Federal Government should ensure payment for every arm and ammunition submitted by ex-militants, if lasting peace is to be experienced in the region.

Noting that the complete and comprehensive list of disarmed ex-militants was with the JTF, which it said was the accredited agent of the Federal Government that carried out the documentation and recovery of arms from the ex-militants, the statement added that “the government should also device urgent means of integrating the ex-militants.”