YOUTHS from the southern part of Nigeria have pleaded with
the Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike, to begin the next phase of the state
amnesty programme in order to prevent repentant cult members from going back to
crime.
Speaking under the aegis of the Southern Youth Foundation,
they said repentant cult members in the state were becoming impatient owing to
lack of clear-cut plans for them from the government after surrendering their
arms.
The National President of the SYF, Mr. Emeni Ibe, made the
call on Saturday during the inauguration of the state chapter of the group in
Port Harcourt.
Ibe explained that the next phase of the programme should be
the rehabilitation of the repentant youths, which would include skill
acquisition, educational and vocational training as well as payment of stipends
in a bid to discourage them from going back into cultism.
“We are calling on the state government to quickly implement
the next phase of the amnesty in the state because if nothing is done, the boys
will go back to the creeks.
“If the state government does not implement the next phase,
what will happen will not be desirable and we don’t pray for such.
“The next phase would be rehabilitation, skill acquisition,
educational training and giving of stipends since they have dropped arms.”
He expressed the group’s readiness to work with the state
government to address the renewed cases of kidnapping, robbery and cultism in
the state.
He, however, commended Wike for initiating the amnesty
programme and vowed that the group would resist attempts by other sections of
the country to make the southerners second class citizens in the country.
Pointing out that they will promote unity among the youths
in the country, Ibe said, “The state amnesty programme is a beautiful idea that
has brought peace in the state. We are urging the youths to turn a new leaf and
bring about peace in the state.”
Also speaking, the Special Adviser to the President on
Student and Youth Affairs, Mr. Nasir Adhama, urged the newly inaugurated Rivers
State Executive of the SYF not to see the opportunity as a money-making
venture, but a call to serve humanity.
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