Former agitators enrolled into the Presidential Amnesty Programme under the Asaraba Pillars Camp, Epebu community, have decried an alleged diversion of their monthly allowances running to over N30m.

It was learnt that the leader of the camp, Mr. Munalayefa Gibson, had become a member of the Bayelsa State House of Assembly representing Ogbia Constituency II.

It was also learnt that the ex-militants had not received their stipends since September 2017 and all efforts to get the money had proved unsuccessful.

Those affected by the nonpayment of the stipends were said to have started raising the alarm over their predicament in December 2017, when one of the camp members, Nicholas Nathaniel, wrote to the then Amnesty Coordinator, Brig.-Gen. Paul Boroh (retd.), via electronic mail.

Nathaniel, in the letter dated December 19, had told Boro that they had not been paid for three months but their camp leader, Munalayefa, had blamed the development on the amnesty office and the opening of new accounts.

But Nathanial said that they felt that the lawmaker had lied to them following a discovery that some members of the camp still received their stipends.

“The majority of the youth involved are angry and may soon engage in violent actions that will affect societal peace and tranquility if nothing is done,” he said.

However, Boroh’s response dated December 20, 2017, which insisted that all members of the camp had been paid was said to have led to the suspicion that their money had been diverted.

It was also learnt that the ex-militants engaged the services of a legal firm, Stanley Damabide and Partners, to write a petition to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission in January 2018, requesting the agency to investigate the matter and prosecute those found culpable.

Also, in the petition written by a legal firm, JUS Scenario, and signed by Ndeze Anthony, the ex-militants lamented that the nonpayment of their stipends had brought untold hardship to them and their families.

In another petition to the Commissioner of Police, Bayelsa State, dated June 13, the ex-militants complained that despite all their protests, all the parties involved in the payment of their stipends had done nothing to address the perceived injustice. – Punch

– Sept. 8, 2018 @ 11:59 GMT