Uwak Sponsors Motion To Include AKS Ex-Militants In Amnesty Programme

Worried by the fact that Ex-Militants from Akwa Ibom State were not included in the Amnesty Programme of the Federal Government declared by Late President Musa Yar’dua in 2009, Hon. Robinson Uwak, representing Oron Federal Constituency in the House of Reps,  on Thursday February 7, 2013  presented a Motion, arguing that ex-militants from Akwa Ibom State be included in the Amnesty programme.

He argued that such exclusion could cause those ex-militants to be engaged in the wrong way, which could further degenerate into disruption of oil businesses and cause another national crisis.

Hon. Robinson Uwak, Rep. Oron Fed. Const. House of Reps, Nigeria

He maintained that Akwa Ibom State accounts for a good number of the ex-militants that gave up their arms to embrace peace after the proclamation of the Amnesty granted by the Late President Yar’adua in 2009.

Hon. Uwak wondered how a State like  Akwa Ibom State which he said “is the leading oil producing state in the Niger Delta and … has a record of contributing a sizeable amount to the Nation’s wealth and Economy”, could have his indigenes and even non-indigenes who hibernated in the creeks of the State during the time of their collective struggle could be excluded from the Amnesty programme of the Federal Government.

According to Hon. Uwak, Akwa Ibom State plays host to several oil companies both Multi-National and indigenous like, Exxon/Mobil, Moni Pulo, Total, Elf, Addax, Afren Oil, Universal Energy, Oriental Energy, Frontier Oil Limited, Septa Energy, Associated Oil & Gas, Centrica Energy, Oando, Ennikom Investment Services Nigeria Limited and others that pay taxes to the Federal Government, employ a sizeable number of Nigerians, and are in several ways contributors to the economy.

He further observed that Akwa Ibom State has a littoral front of about 129 kilometers and that  militant camps existed around the Tom-Shot Bank, Widenham Creek, Obufa Creek, Akwa Obio Effiat, James Town, Stubbs Creek, Qua Ibo Creek, Opobo Creek, Eket, Esit Eket, Etim Ekpo, Atabong, Ibeno, Ikot-Abasi, Ibaka, Okposo, Parrot Island, Tobacco Island and Inua-Abasi.

The lawmaker in his presentation said the above named areas account for about 90% of the oil exploration in Akwa Ibom State and that the Ex-militants who are both indigenes and non-indigenes hibernated in those places while operating from within and outside the state during the struggle predating the Amnesty Proclamation.

It was his position that in spite of the immediate renunciation of their struggles and the subsequent submission of their arms to give way for peace, the ex-militants from Akwa Ibom State were yet to be embraced and accommodated in the Amnesty Programme, and other engaging activities of the Federal Government like the Pipeline Surveillance initiative.

He argued that the ex militants of Akwa Ibom State who gave up their arms and were not  integrated into the Amnesty Programme  were idle and could start to engaged in the wrong way, which could further degenerate into disruption of oil businesses and cause another national crisis.

The House was to mandate the House Committee on Niger Delta Ministry to  investigate the rationale behind the exclusion of the Akwa Ibom ex-militants from the Amnesty Programme and other engaging activities of the Federal Government like the Coastal/Waterway initiative.

The Committee was also to ensure that the ex-militants from Akwa Ibom State were immediately integrated into the Amnesty Programme and other initiatives, and report back to the  House in six weeks, but the Motion was stepped down for presentation at a later date.