Sylvester Idowu in Warri 

The Olu of Warri representative to the office of the Administrator of Presidential Amnesty Programme (PAP), Dr. Shola Mese, has said that the intervention initiative is not designed solely for the Ijaw ethnic nationality.

He maintained that the programme was birthed to accommodate ex-agitators from the various ethnic groups in the Niger Delta region.

Mese, also a security consultant, therefore called on Ijaw Peoples Development Initiative (IPDI) and similar pseudo group to desist from misconstruing the PAP as an intervention initiative solely designed for the Ijaw ethnic nationality.

The Olu of Warri’s representative, who was among the founders of the programme, as well as coordinator of the disarmament of ex-militants and ex-agitators in Delta State, insisted that the programme was birthed to accommodate ex-agitators from the various ethnic groups in the region.

Mese, who was recommended as sole Itsekiri representative to the Office of the Administrator of the PAP by the Olu of Warri in November 2024, in a statement issued in Warri Thursday, stressed that the PAP is not only for militants.

While noting that the Itsekiri, disarmed at the foundational stage of the programme, Mese counselled the Administrator of the PAP, Dr. Dennis Otuaro, against tendencies capable of causing division in the Itsekiri nation.

According to him, whilst the Ijaw nation, particularly the Ijaw of Warri South-West Local Government Area, have immensely benefitted from the amnesty programme, same can not be said of their Itsekiri neighbours, who suffered untold hardship and losses during the peak of violent agitations.

The security consultant criticized the selective allocation of amnesty slots, award of scholarships and other reintegration initiatives to a handful of the Itsekiri by Otuaro, saying the instrument instituted by the Olu of Warri should be respected by the PAP boss.

“Talking about the birth of the amnesty, which is the Presidential Amnesty Programme, truth be told, I was a part of the founders of the programme.

“It all started after the disarmament of ex- militants. I was privileged to be the coordinator of disarmament in Delta State to be precise. I did the disarmament single-handedly first, before other people came in. The records are there,” he asserted.

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