Amnesty: FG sends 212 ex-militants on training

Posted by admin Latest Politics, Niger Delta Thursday, January 27th, 2011

Another batch of 212 ex-militants from the Niger Delta has been sent to Ghana for various vocational trainings under the Federal Government’s amnesty programme. The 212 ex-militants, who formed the second batch to be sent abroad for training, had also gone through non-violence transformational programme in Obubra, Cross River State. The first batch of 38 travelled to South Africa on December 8, 2010.

Speaking prior to their departure, the Special Adviser to the president on Niger Delta matters, Kingsley Kuku said the ex-militants would undergo training in industrial welding and fabrication techniques at the National Vocational Training Institute (NVTI), Ghana. About 1,000 ex-militants had been pencilled down for the Ghana training, while 7,000 ex-militants would be trained in totality.

“The government means business in the amnesty programme. This is the re-integration phase which entails training. The acquired skill and knowledge will empower them both economically and mentally. The training will take place in six different locations in Ghana. The initial number of 212 is a portion of an estimated 1000 transformed ex-militants who have been shortlisted to benefit from the similar training in Ghana.

Since the commencement of the amnesty reintegration in August 2010, more than 7,000 transformed ex-militants have been allocated to both local and offshore training centres with more than 2,000 allocated to education and vocational training offshore. In the coming weeks, more delegates will travel to countries such as Malaysia, Romania, U.K, U.S.A, Egypt, Poland, Netherlands, among others to commence various trainings,” he explained.

Kuku, who doubles as the chairman, Presidential Committee on Amnesty (PCA) extolled the late President Musa Yar’Adua, who granted the Niger Delta militants amnesty as a way of restoring peace in the troubled region. As a product of the peace, Kuku said the volume of oil exploration had jumped from 600,000 barrels per day to 2 million barrels per day, exceeding the quota the Oil Producing Exporting Countries (OPEC) gave Nigeria.

“The late President Yar’Adua commenced the amnesty programme. In fact, President Goodluck Jonathan, then the vice president visited the notorious Camp 5 in the Niger Delta region to initiate the peace process. Since then, he has ensured it succeeded,” he stated.

On job availability after training, the presidential adviser said: “Jonathan’s regime has earmarked such major projects in the Niger Delta as, the regional railway project, the LNG projects, new refinery project, new town projects, environmental remediation projects, the crucial East-west road projects as well as numerous coastal roads. Mr. President envisions that these projects will offer properly skilled ex-combatants gainful employment.”wp_posts