Time up for the FG’s Amnesty programme, says Boroh

The Coordinator of the  Presidential Amnesty Programme (PAP), Brig.-Gen. Paul Boroh, says the PAP is winding down its re-integration programme, which centres on  enhancing human capacity development.

“ We are not recruiting more people into the programme any more. Right now we are in the reintegration phase of the Presidential Amnesty Programme,” Boroh said when he paid a  visit to the Managing Director of the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), Mr Bayo Onanuga, in Abuja on Wednesday.

“It is about winding down. It is a DDR programme coming from the United Nations. We’ve done the disarmament, demobilisation; we are now in the reintegration phase. That phase has to do with developing a capacity of those that are in the programme in the area of skill acquisition, entrepreneurship and capacity building,’’ he said.

Managing Director, News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), Mr Bayo Onanuga (R) with the Special Adviser to the President on Niger Delta and Coordinator of the Presidential Amnesty Programme, retired Brig.-Gen. Paul Boroh, during the latter’’s visit to NAN headquarters in Abuja on Wednesday

The coordinator said he had carefully designed an exit strategy in the programme to ensure gradual wind down of the programme, which was in a reintegration phase.

According to him, the programme is in the reintegration phase of the Disarmament, Demobilisation and Reintegration (DDR),  after training and empowerment of beneficiaries. NAN reports that the DDR model was adopted by the Amnesty Programme to train beneficiaries from communities that were negatively affected by armed conflicts in the region. Boroh, however, called for strategic partnership with NAN in the area of networking, information dissemination concerning the programme to help in informing the wider society.

Responding, Onanuga commended Boroh for his good work, saying that there had been noticeable reduction in tension in the region. Onanuga, while pledging continued partnership to get wider coverage of its programme, called on the coordinator to do more especially in the area of subscribing to NAN products such as the PR-Wire and NAN.ng.

“Our agency has been maintaining a robust relationship with Amnesty Programme and it had been the best partnership so far,’’ he said.

NAN

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