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President Muhammadu Buhari has resumed the Niger Delta Amnesty Programme payments and the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) will be paying the ex-militants directly.
Piriye Kiyaramo, the amnesty programme’s media officer, disclosed this on Monday in Abuja, stating that the government will also be paying tuition for the ex-militants.
Reuters quoted him as saying:
“Payments of stipends to the ex-militants resumed this Monday. The payments are done directly from the CBN (Central Bank of Nigeria) to their bank accounts”
“The payment also includes tuition for those studying abroad. Their last payment was in February this year. Now we are clearing all outstanding and the payments.”
The Federal Government had stopped the payments in February and since then, over 4,000 pipeline vandalisation activities have taken place.
Each of the former militant is entitled, under the amnesty deal, to N65,000 naira monthly (over three times the country’s minimum wage), in addition to a job training, while those schooling get more money for their tuition.
Buhari had initially insisted on cutting the amnesty by two-thirds and limit cash payments in the face of dwindling revenues.
On Monday, reports had it that three ex-militants studying abroad under the amnesty programme bagged first class degrees from UK universities.
READ: Three ex-militants bag first class degrees in UK universities