The Presidential Amnesty Programme (PAP) in the Niger Delta has solicited the support and collaboration of the Nigerian Army in empowering ex-agitators of the oil-producing region.
The Interim Administrator of PAP, Maj.-Gen. Barry Ndiomu (rtd), made the call when he paid a courtesy visit to the Chief of Army Staff, Lt.-Gen. Faruk Yahaya in Abuja on Thursday.
Ndiomu said the challenges of meeting the mandate necessitated the call for collaboration in the area of human capital development and logistics to enable PAP to implement its programmes and activities.
He acknowledged the contributions of the Nigerian Army to the programme over the years, particularly in the area of training, security and logistics support.
According to him, the Nigerian Army is one of the major institutions that have provided immense support to PAP right from its inception in 2009.
“It is only wise to make the Army one of the very first visits to solicit its continued support and cooperation towards our activities.
“The Nigerian army has quite a number of training sessions that may be necessary for the capacity-building processes of the amnesty programme and we can collaborate.
“For example, we have a Nigerian Army School of Engineering and the Nigerian Army Electrical Maintenance Engineers Corps
“They run all kinds of courses that we think some of these ex-agitators can benefit from that will lead to a gainful employment or some other role in terms of entrepreneurship when they exit the programme eventually,’’ he said.
Responding, Gen. Yahaya assured the interim administrator of the continuous support of the Nigerian Army for all of PAP’s programmes and activities to enable it to achieve its mandate.
Yahaya recalled the long-standing relationship between PAP and the Nigerian Army and promised to leverage it for the benefit of all.
He congratulated Ndiomu for his appointment by President Muhammadu Buhari and expressed confidence in his capacity to discharge his duties efficiently.