The Federal Government of Nigeria has resumed payment of allowances to former Niger Delta militants under the amnesty scheme.
The development was confirmed on Wednesday by the program’s spokesman, Owei Lakemfa.
The Amnesty program spokesman while speaking with AFP on Wednesday said: “The payment of allowances is ongoing. Before now, there were some logistics issues, which we have addressed”.
He continued: “We had a funding gap — only N20 billion was approved this year as against N64 billion in 2015.
“But additional money has now been provided and the beneficiaries are getting their stipends through the central bank”.
Recall that the Amnesty program was introduced in 2009 to curb the incidence of violence, kidnappings amongst other crimes perpetrated by the militant groups in the Niger Delta region.
The scheme however apportions repentant militants the sum of N65,000 monthly allowance in exchange for dropping their weapons.
The program spokesman speaking on the expected termination of the program which was originally set for 2018 said: “The decision to exit the scheme lies with the president.
He further noted that “about 30,000 ex-militants have joined the amnesty scheme, which the government initially planned to wind up by 2018”.