EX-MILITANTS REGROUP, ISSUE ULTIMATUM TO FG

•Say agreement with late President Yar’Adua not implemented
•Blames NASS, President Jonathan over unpaid allowance

Ex-militants on the platform of Leadership Forum for Peace in Niger Delta yesterday threatened to return to the trenches if the federal government fails to pay their allowance.

They have therefore issued a three-day ultimatum to the Federal government to pay up their allowance or be prepared for another crisis in the coastal region.

Leader of the group, Gen. Reuben Wilson alias Pastor spoke in Yenagoa yesterday while addressing 100 ex-militant leaders, lamented that all the agreements reached between the group and late President Umar Yar’ Adua had not been implemented.

The ex-warlords, who were drawn from Edo, Imo, Cross River, Rivers, Akwa- Ibom, Delta and Bayelsa States, noted that they could only appeal to their followers to maintain peace till Wednesday, February 13 .

Wilson warned that the group would not be able to guarantee the actions of their followers if the said allowance was not paid before the ultimatum expired.

While absolving the Special Adviser to the President on Niger Delta Affairs and co-ordinator of the Amnesty programme, Kingsley Kuku for the nonpayment of the allowances , the ex-militant leaders blamed the delay on the unpaid allowance on the National Assembly and the Presidency.

The ex-militant leader said their boys were frustrated over the non-payment of their allowance ,as they have been issuing threat text mobile phone messages to their various leaders. His words: “Our boys have not been paid.

They are threatening us by sending different threat messages. If the money is delayed beyond Wednesday there would be crisis because our boys have become unruly and impatient.

We are giving the Federal Government up till Wednesday to pay our money. If they don’t pay, we cannot guarantee. If the money is not paid, anything that happens, they should not blame the leaders, because we cannot talk to our boys beyond Wednesday”.

Adding his voice, an exmilitant leader from Rivers state, Opunamah Andetufe, faulted the federal government for reneging on all the agreements, the ex-militant leaders had with late President Yar Adua.

“The Federal Government wanted to take us for a ride. It appears they want to toy with our patience and treat us as fools.

They prefer it that we should protest. Our grouse is not with Kingsley Kuku, but, President Goodluck Jonathan and the National Assembly”, Andetufe said.

Source: National Mirror