Caleb Ayansina

ABUJA – EX-MILITANTS under the auspices of the National Coalition of Niger Delta Ex-Agitators (NCNDE-A) have called on President Muhammadu Buhari to as a matter of urgency pay up the backlog of the monthly stipends owed Niger Delta ex-militants as a measure to cushion the effects of the current economic realities in the country.

The President NCNDE-A, Israel Akpodoro, in a statement, on Friday, in Abuja noted that most ex-militant’s lives depend on the stipend from the office of the Amnesty Program of the Federal Government.

He stated that the payment of the arrears to ex-militants at this time would go a long way to assuage the youth of the region and dissuade them from acts of violence especially vandalism.

The group further explained  that the payment would correct the erroneous impression that the FG was withholding the stipends as a punishment to ex-militants because the activities of the Niger Delta Avengers, NDA.

The statement alleged that some disgruntled politicians probably from opposition, who are the enemies of the Nigerian state, had brainwashed the youth population in the region  into believing that the non payment of ex-militants was a vengeful mission by the FG.

The group, therefore, called on the youth to support the government in a show of deep understanding and solidarity with the FG, adding that the blackmailers of APC government had been proven to be a nest of looters willing to do anything including fanning the embers of disunity to achieve their sinister motives.