Former agitators under the auspices of the Bakassi Strike Force, BSF have been discouraged from selling the recent starter pack disbursements of the EU/ECOWAS Small Arms and Light Weapons (SALW) Control Intervention in Nigeria NEGROIDHAVEN has confirmed.
This call was put across to the ex-militants beneficiaries by the Government of Cross River state (CRSG) on Friday in Calabar the Cross River state capital during the disbursement ceremony organised by Lite-Africa the implementing partner.
The Deputy Governor of the state, Prof. Evara Ejemot Esu, during the event of the disbursement of starter packs at the state command of the Nigerian Police observed that the training for the former agitators should be seen by them as an attempt to escape from poverty. He charged them not to sell the starter packs given to them by the EU through the AU while at the same time notifying the audience of the state government’s effort to graft Cross River into the national amnesty programme.
His words, ‘do not sell these items, use these wisely to promote your business and free yourself from poverty. You’ve done your training, this training is you saying ‘bye-bye to poverty’. His Excellency the governor is still fighting for Cross River to be integrated into the national amnesty programme.
Deputy Governor Esu appealed to the EU to fast-forward the second disbursement, according to him the continued delay will results in the anticipated beneficiaries forgetting the skill they learnt: ‘to the EU, let the second and third batch come in rapid succession’.
On his part, Mr Austine Ibok the Special Adviser to the state governor on Amnesty and Rehabilitation noted that the process started in 2017 by the Federal Government with the ultimate objective of mopping ‘arms in exchange for credible alternative livelihood.’
According to Ibok, the first stage was the citing of micro projects in some communities in the state like Bakassi, Obudu, Boki, etc. The second stage is the starter pack disbursement for 150 persons begining with 50 beneficiaries. The Special Adviser assured NEGROIDHAVEN that there is a deliberate mechanism to frustrate beneficiaries from selling the disbursed facilities.
