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) Senator Matthew Aisagbonriodion Urhoghide and others involved in the threat of arrest, against the Interim Administrator of the PAP, Col. Milland Dixon Dikio (rtd.) are no longer welcome in the Niger Delta state.
Senator Urhoghide who is representing Edo South Senatorial district, had last week threatened to issue a warrant of arrest against Col. 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 his appointment.
The Reintegrated Ex-Militant Forum (REF), in a statement issued by its National Coordinator, former General Tony Ebikalaide (aka 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 entire Niger Delta region.
Pointblanknews.com had reported that the Coalition had earlier warned the Urhoghide led Senate Committee on Public Account, of the consequences of their actions and had tagged 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 are 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.”