NDDC partners amnesty office to reintegrate 30,000 ex-militants

THE Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) has struck a partnership with the Presidential Amnesty Office to reintegrate into the society some 30,000 former militants that had undergone training in various vocations.

The deal was sealed yesterday in Port Harcourt during a courtesy visit by the Coordinator of Presidential Amnesty Programme and Special Adviser to the President on Niger Delta Affairs, Brigadier-General Paul Boroh (rtd) to NDDC’s acting Managing Director, Mrs. Ibim Semenitari.

Boroh explained that the reintegration programme was the last phase of the programme, adding that it behoved on everyone in the oil-rich region to ensure that the project succeeded.
“The Amnesty programme is to sustain peace already established immediately after the disarmament and demobilisation, that is as simple as it is. The phase we are into now is reintegration and I want to achieve sustainable integration, which is our responsibility as people of the Niger Delta.

What can we do with 30,000 ex-agitators who have developed various skills to be reintegrated back into the Niger Delta? It is all our responsibility and I believe in the principle of collective responsibility. So, whatever we way you can support the programme, it is highly welcomed,” he appealed.

Responding, Semenitari said though the region had suffered untold deprivation in the past, she, however, advised against allowing the challenges to forestall development.
“To hear you talk about teaching our people to fish, gives us a lot of joy because, indeed, we are a region of proud people; we are a region of people who have always wanted to earn their own living.

Indeed, we have suffered a lot of deprivation in the past because of the kind of things that happen to our environment. We cannot continue to allow ourselves to be defiled by those challenges of the past. We will not allow ourselves to be defiled by the troubles that we witnessed.
“So, the kind of things you are doing with this reintegration programme is something that is very welcoming. It is something I think the region should celebrate”.

I want to reassure you that for us at the NDDC, this provides for us a lynchpin to development and we will work with you definitely to achieve those goals,” she assured.