Amnesty to cost N10b – The Nation
October 9, 2009 by Bunmi Awolusi
How much cash was thrown into the Niger Delta amnesty?
The controversy ended yesterday, with the Federal Government Inter-Agency Coordinating Committee on Amnesty revealing that N10.14billion was earmarked for the exercise.
The Chief Co-ordinator of the committee, Air Vice Marshal (AVM) Lucky Ararile, told a media briefing in Abuja that N958,612,000.00 had been spent.
The N1.273billion already approved has not been credited into the panel’s account, he said.
AVM Ararile added that the N1.273billion would be used to settle allowances of ex-militants.
He said: “8,299 ex-militants had been disarmed and documented as at October. Bayelsa State tops the list of disarmed militants, with 4,869 registered. The exercise took place in seven states.
Delta State has 1,061, Rivers 1,047, Ondo 750, Edo 250, Akwa Ibom 162 and Cross River 160 registered ex-militants.
AVM Aralile revealed that 2,760 arms of “different classes and caliber” and 287,445 various types of ammunition were surrendered Besides, 3,155 magazines, 1090 dynamite caps, 763 explosives and dynamites, and 18 gun boats were surrendered.
The highest cache of ammunitions (130,877) was recovered from Bayelsa followed by Rivers State (82,406) and Delta State (52,958).
