Amnesty: Ex-militants invade Ese-Odo Local Government, threaten to pull down the council Secretariat, humble the Chairman, Folawe Aluko-Sipasi
The Chairman of Ese-Odo Local Government, Hon. (Mrs.) Folawe Aluko-Sipasi, on last Monday 11th May 2021 prevented ex-militants from attacking the local government Secretariat.
The Chairman in her own wisdom made herself available to the ex-militants and addressed them with all sense of humility and calmness. The ex-militants who gathered around the council Secretariat in Igbekebo, the headquarters of the local government to continue with their regular protest against non-inclusion in the Amnesty programme of the Federal Government.
The protest by the ex-militants which began in the morning led to the blocking of all the adjourning streets near the local government secretariat.
Coastal Renaissance news gathered that while the Chairman was pacifying the ex-militants to vacate the vicinity, the ex-militants on their part were threatening violence, stressing that the state government has abandoned and failed to fulfill their promises to group since they were being disarmed by the Federal Government through the Ondo State Government since 2017. They also argued that past attempts to resolve the issue with the governments had not yielded any results.
“We have made our demands known over the years. We have been going to the State Government repeatedly, but there has been no positive response from the state government”.
The ex-militants said that they have
been abandoned and neglected by the government at various levels in its
Presidential Amnesty Programme till date having been so disarmed for proper
reintegration being part of the Federal Government initiative of disarmament/amnesty to
ensuring absolute peace and security in the Niger Delta Region of Nigeria
and in compliance to same, the section of the ex-militants are from Ese-Odo extraction accepted
the offer, terms and conditions of the Federal Government by embarking
on or keying into the disarmament/presidential amnesty exercise of Ex-
Militants in November, 2017 and have accordingly surrendered to the Government arms and ammunitions of various degrees but government has blatantly failed, refused and neglected to honour or fulfill its part by absorbing them into the Presidential Amnesty programme.
“it is painful to note that till date, no step or nothing has been
made to absorb, ameliorate, mitigate and cushion our suffering and such
calls for calling your attention being the Chairman of the local government”.
