A coalition of Former Militant leaders under the aegis of the Reintegrated Ex-Militant Forum {REF) has declared that the Chairman of the Senate Public Account Committee (SPAC) led by the Senator representing Edo South Senatorial district, Senator Matthew Aisagbonriodion Urhoghide and others involved in the threat of arrest against the Interim Administrator of the PAP, Col. Milland Dixon Dikio (rtd.) to be mindful of their movement in the Niger Delta states because they are no longer welcome.
The Chairman of the Senate Public Account Committee (SPAC) led by the Senator representing Edo South Senatorial district, Senator Matthew Aisagbonriodion Urhoghide had last week threatened to issue a warrant of arrest against the Interim Administrator of the PAP, Col. Milland Dixon Dikio (rtd.) over alleged failure of some officials of the Presidential Amnesty Programme to account for a total of N10bn allegedly mismanaged in 2018 prior to the appointment of Col. Milland Dixon Dikio (rtd.) as the PAP Boss.
The Reintegrated Ex-Militant Forum (REF), in a statement issued and signed by its National Coordinator, Former General Tony Ebikalaide popularly known along the creeks of the region as Black Spider, claimed that all cells of the Ex-Militant leaders have been activated to be on the lookout for Senator Urhoghide and others in the Nine States of the Niger Delta region.
The Coalition of Ex-Militants under the REF, who had earlier warned the Senate Committee on Public Account, in a second resolution warned Senator Urhogide and others that they are no longer welcome in the region, tagging them anti-Niger Delta elements. The angry Ex-militant leaders said that “they feel insulted by these corrupt Senators for threatening to issue a warrant of arrest against the Interim Administrator of the PAP, Col. Miland Dixon Dikio (rtd.) who has done exceptionally well since his appointment, and Col. Dikio (rtd.) has repositioned the Presidential Amnesty Programme (PAP) with over 30,000 ex-militants towards achieving its aims and objectives as envisioned during its establishment, and he has overwhelmingly earned our respect.”
“Senator Matthew Aisagbonriodion Urhoghide and his colleagues have taken our silence for weakness. The Niger Delta region since the appointment of Col. Dikio (rtd.) has been the most peaceful region in the country. Maybe these Senators think that we blind, and we are not seeing the lawlessness and anarchy going-on in the country? How many arrest warrants have they issued to the heads of other federal government agencies and parastatals, including the North-East Development Commission (NEDC) when they refused to appear before the kangaroo fact-finding committee meant to extort funds from the heads of these agencies?”
“We have asked them questions, but they could not provide answers. These are the same Senators who cannot account for their own spendings and even repair their leaking roof in the NASS complex. These are the same Senators that could not pay the salaries and benefits for their striking staff. Where were these Senators when our people were calling for a probe into the five days looting of the N60b Amnesty Training Centre located at Kaiama in Bayelsa under Prof. Charles Dokubo in February 2019, and what have they done since the refusal of President Muhammadu Buhari to establish a substantive board for the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) in the last seven years?”
According to REF, “we are aware in the past that the sons of the Niger Delta are the ones being used to truncate efforts of our region’s intervention agencies such as the NDDC and the Presidential Amnesty Programme against the development of our region, and for the empowerment of the people in the Niger Delta region, but this time-around, we want to warn Senator Urhoghide, who is from Edo State to thread carefully as he is no longer welcomed in Edo state and other Niger Delta states.”
