Rivers State amnesty programme has continued to enlist more converts into its fold as more cultists and kidnappers who had hitherto constituted themselves into criminal gangs have yielded to repeated prodding by the state government to surrender their arms in course of the 60 days amnesty programme proclaimed by the state government.
This is the position of Napoleon Adah, a stakeholder in Rivers State, who spoke in reaction to comments credited to the governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress, APC, Dr. Dakuku Peterside, in the Rivers State, April 11, 2015, governorship election.
Peterside who spoke at Erema town, in Ogba/Egbema/Ndoni Local Government Area, during the burial of the late Chairman of the Rivers State chapter of the APC, Chief Godspower Ake, condemned the amnesty programme, branding it a “failure” and “”another avenue to siphon Rivers State funds”.
Debunking Dr. Peterside’s claim, Adah insisted that former cultists in Ahoada West and East; Ikwerre; Khana, Gokana and Tai Local Government Areas have embraced the amnesty programme. The amnesty committee led by Kingsley Chinda have also visited Ogba/Egbema/Ndoni local governments to collect arms from repentant criminals.
“It is not correct as stated by Dr. Peterside that the Rivers State amnesty programme is a failure. Arms and ammunition have been returned by repentant cultists to the amnesty committee. We all saw the guns that were returned by repentant cultists on television and on the pages of newspapers”.
Adah stressed that cultists who had earlier shunned the amnesty programme for fear that it was a bait to lure them into the fangs of security agencies have realised that the amnesty programme was not a ruse and have been making concerted efforts to embrace the olive branch extended to them by the state government to surrender their arms.
“Good enough the leaders of the APC in Rivers State attended the burial of the former chairman of the party, Chief Godspower Ake, last weekend. There was no incidence of violence. There was no gun shot. No one was killed. It is clear to all that Rivers State is peaceful. They came and went back to their homes without any breach to public peace and order. Clearly, the amnesty is working”.
Adah emphasised: “Governor Wike has asked all cultists and members of criminal gangs to embrace the amnesty programme within the 60 days window or face the full weight of the law. For the fact that all those who have surrendered their arms have been assured of being fully rehabilitated into the society, other cultists and criminals are now making efforts to surrender their arms which is good for the state”.
