Amnesty Administrator, Tompolo Discuss Future of PAP

Omon-Julius Onabu in Asaba

Interim Administrator, Presidential Amnesty Programme (PAP), Maj-Gen Barry Ndiomu (rtd), has met with a leader of the defunct Movement for the Emancipation of Niger Delta (MEND), Chief Government Ekpemupolo, popularly known as Tompolo, to rub minds onthe future of the PAP, a peace initiative of the Federal Government of Nigeria.

The meeting, which was at the instance of Ndiomu, took place at the country home of the former MEND leader in Gbaramatu Kingdom, Warri South-West Local Government Area of Delta State, THISDAY gathered.

Ndiomu is currently engaged in series of consultation with with critical stakeholders in the oil-rich region in the light of his new mandate for PAP and the federal government’s interest in peace promotion and protection of oil facilities in the region.

He was believed to have sought the cooperation of Tompolo towards delivering effective on his “mandate of systematically bringing the PAP to its termination stage.” He reportedly gave Tompolo a pat on the back for the recent chain of quick successes his pipeline surveillance outfit has recorded since the federal government awarded it contract for surveillance over facilities in the Niger
Delta.

The PAP interim administrator also paid a courtesy call on Gbaramatu monarch, the Pere of Gbaramatu Kingdom, H.R.M King Williams Ogoba Oboro Gbaraun II, at his palace at Oporoza, intimating the traditional ruler of the objective of the amnesty scheme under his watch.

He told the king that he was on a familarisation tour to the kingdom and to intimate stakeholders on the new directive of the government concerning the amnesty programme.

“I do not want to go into too many details for want of time, but I want to assure His Royal Majesty that I will come back within a few weeks, because we are returning again for proper, much more comprehensive stakeholders consultation.

“I’m pleading that we will be inviting His Royal Majesty to also participate, so that there will be contributions from the palace, and we can together articulate a position which we’ll present to government to further improve what we want in terms of our demands for our people.

“As your majesty may recall, when the programme itself was put in place the objective was for it to have terminated in 2015 but it has  gone beyond 2015. And, so the thinking of government is that we have to refocus and redirect the programme in such a way that we’ll move towards the final termination, in a very systematic manner.”

Responding, the Ijaw monarch, while congratulating the PAP Acting Administrator on his appointment, admitted that the amnesty programme had not remained on the path designed for it from the outset and urged Ndiomu to do what was right and appropriate in the interest of the people of the Niger Delta region.