Niger Delta amnesty: Two years after

The Nation

16 October 2011

Niger Delta amnesty: Two years after

Two years ago, the federal government unveiled an amnesty programme for militants in the Niger Delta, Bisi Olaniyi, in Port Harcourt looks at how the scheme is working out today

The massively-rigged 2003 general elections was perhaps the trigger that the militants in the Niger Delta needed to buoy them into action.

The nine states in the region (Rivers, Bayelsa, Delta, Edo, Ondo, Akwa Ibom, Cross River, Abia and Imo), are the nation’s cash cow. The South South region is rich in crude oil and gas. The aggrieved youths of the region decided to resist what they saw as the ‘daylight robbery’ of their votes. They saw this as an opportunity to, for once, insist on the emancipation of the Niger Delta, empowerment of the people and development of the region.