Warri Group Accuses Itsekiri Leaders of Hypocrisy Over 2009 Amnesty Programme

3 weeks ago 14

Warri Peace Initiative Watch accuses Itsekiri leaders of rejecting the Amnesty Programme before 2009.
Group says current claims of marginalisation are an attempt to “harvest what they refused to plant.”
Federal Government urged to resist any rewriting of Niger Delta peace history.

Warri Peace Initiative Watch has accused Itsekiri elites of opposing the Presidential Amnesty Programme from its inception in 2009, alleging that their current claims of marginalisation are an attempt to benefit from a peace process they once rejected.

In an open letter to the Federal Government and the National Security Adviser, the group said Itsekiri media platforms, traditional councils and political organisations openly condemned the amnesty idea during the height of the Niger Delta armed struggle, portraying it as an Ijaw reward for militancy.

The group recalled that in 2008 and 2009, the Itsekiri Leaders of Thought, Itsekiri National Youth Council, and Warri Traditional Council issued press statements urging the Federal Government to crush militants rather than engage them in dialogue. “Rewarding militancy will only breed more chaos.

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The Federal Government must crush these elements rather than invite them for dialogue,” Chief E. E. Sillo was quoted as saying in March 2009.

Warri Peace Initiative Watch alleged that while Ijaw towns were under aerial bombardment, the Itsekiri elite pushed for more military action.

The group said the Warri Traditional Council in January 2009 described the amnesty plan as “an insult to law-abiding citizens,” branding key negotiators such as Government Ekpemupolo (Tompolo) as terrorists and boycotting reconciliation meetings convened by the Presidential Committee on Amnesty.

According to the letter, prominent Itsekiri figures published articles in national dailies between 2007 and 2009 with headlines such as “You Cannot Bribe Militants into Silence” and “Amnesty Is Appeasement: Federal Government Must Not Surrender,” positioning themselves against the peace framework.

The group also alleged that in June 2009, days before President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua announced the Amnesty Proclamation, Itsekiri political stakeholders lobbied Abuja to stop it, warning that it would “encourage rebellion” and “strengthen the Ijaw Nation.”

The letter stated that the Amnesty Programme was signed on June 25, 2009, with Ijaw negotiators present and Itsekiri stakeholders absent.

The group accused current Itsekiri claimants of acting out of “greed, entitlement and a desire to rewrite history,” noting that they cannot point to any disarmament camp, military attack on their communities, or leadership role in the original peace process.

Warri Peace Initiative Watch urged the Federal Government not to allow “a fake narrative” to stand or to entertain calls for the removal of the current Amnesty Programme Administrator, Dr Dennis Otuaro. “We fought the war. We buried our dead. We accepted peace. You cannot harvest what you refused to plant,” the letter quoted the Ijaw Youth Council as saying in a 2019 anniversary memo.

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