The Special Adviser to the President on Niger Delta, retired Brig.-Gen. Paul Boroh, says no fewer than 317 ex-agitators have graduated from different institutions in the U.S. and UK in 2017.
Boroh, who is also the Coordinator of the Presidential Amnesty Programme, disclosed this in New York of Friday when he visited Prof. Tijjani Bande, Nigeria’s Ambassador/Special Representative to the UN and the Deputy Ambassador Samson Itegboje.
The presidential aide explained that the Amnesty Programme was managing the 30,000 ex-agitators from the Niger Delta region.
He said the programme, which started in 2009, had sponsored the beneficiaries in various skill acquisition, education and entrepreneurship training, among others.
According to him, the programme has helped greatly to stabilise the Niger Delta region, adding that the Federal Government is consolidating on the achievements to buoy the economy.
“This year alone, we have 177 graduates of the amnesty programme from the U.S. and 140 from the UK.
“By the end of this month, we would be going for the graduation in the UK; that of the U.S. has been on.
“The programme is on course; it helps greatly in stabilizing the situation in the Niger Delta region. I have also been working with the UN.”
Boroh, who was attending the High-level Political Forum on Sustainable Development, said he was invited “to come and disclose what we are doing in the country, particularly in the Niger Delta on the SDGs issues”.