Over 500 militants accept amnesty in Edo

NO fewer than five hundred militants, under the aegis of the Niger Delta Freedom Fighters in Ikoro Camp 1, Ovia North-East Local Government Area of Edo State, at the weekend, made known their willingness to embrace the Federal Governments amnesty programme,The militants cited the victory of President Goodluck Jonathan in the presidential election as reason for their decision.Led by General Abiodun (a.k.a Kabiru), the militants said they had informed the Joint Task Force (JTF) in the Niger Delta and the Director of the State Security Services (SSS) in Edo and Delta states of their desire to surrender their weapons and embrace the amnesty programme tomorrow.When asked why they waited till now before embracing the amnesty programme, General Abiodun, who is in charge of the Ikoro Camp in Ovia, said we thought government may be playing pranks but with what we have seen so far, President Goodluck Jonathan is a sincere man and his victory in the presidential election propelled us to drop our arms. We thought that the Hausa were going to manipulate the election and that was why we decided to remain in the creeks.We also want to express satisfaction with what Oshiomhole is doing in Edo State. He has actually shown that there is hope for the neglected areas. We want to work with him because it is our belief that after surrendering our arms tomorrow, crime will drastically reduce in the state. And we also want to appeal to both the Federal and state government to free some of our boys who were arrested. We want peace and we need to be encouraged for the good of the state.
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