A group of ex-militants, under the aegis of Bakassi Freedom Fighters, and their leaders have engaged in a silent war over the non-payment of their allowances. The ex-militants have protested that since March 2011 their N66, 500 have not been paid by the amnesty office in Abuja as promised after their demobilisation exercise and subsequent training.
They accused the leader of the BFF and the Cross River State coordinator of Presidential Amnesty Programme, of allegedly short-changing them.
In a protest letter addressed to Amnesty office and signed by 11 representatives including Clement Asinye, Effiom Henshaw, Ita Ikpeme, Victor Edet, Ita Nyong, Charles Effiom, Lawerence Offiong, Andem Edem Dick, Akpaitam Ikoh, Archibong Ita and Emmanuel Asuquo, the group said in spite of repeated appeals to their leader and Amnesty office in Calabar to look into their plight, they have rather treated their matter with kid gloves.
In the letter made available to Daily Sun, the ex-militants are worried that after going through all necessary trainings, their leaders, have bluntly told them that they would not be paid their regular allowances because the Amnesty office was said to have declared their demobilisation exercise as illegal.
The former agitators revealed that after thorough investigations and series of letters to the Amnesty office, they were made to understand that all their allowances and other entitlements have been paid through the Clabar office. The group said, “From investigations, we were made to understand that the Amnesty commission has paid all our monthly allowances and other entitlements. We were equally informed that the commission that all financial dealings and activities of Bakassi Freedom Fighters, BFF, passes through Mr. Akinak, being the state coordinator.”
However, to avoid open confrontation with their leaders, the group had demanded “immediate intervention by Amnesty office by compelling the duo to pay all our outstanding allowances and benefits including house allowance/transition safety Allowance due them into their individual account as against paying into a single account.
“That the financial dealings of the Akinaka and Franklin regarding our benefits be investigated and want the Amnesty to stop moves or threat by them to remove our names from the programme to forestall further confrontation. “That the commission should as a matter of urgency facilitate the speedy training and rehabilitation processes of our members. And that until all these demands are met, the issue remains unfinished business,” they stated.
But the spokesman for the BFF, Nicholas Theophilus, had told newsmen in of the interviews that protesting boys are not recognized members of the BFF and urged them to channel their grievances properly. The ex-agitators went through demobilisation exercise at Obubra Camp and later proceeded to Lagos in December 2011where they completed the process with training on conflict resolution, biometric capturing and submission of bank accounts details, leading to the issuing of identity cards and certificates.
