Judge begs ex-militants to assist FG in pacifying Niger Delta Avengers

Aliya Nganjiwa, a justice of the federal high court, Yenagoa, has advised ex-militants to reach out to the Niger Delta Avengers on the need to cease hostilities on oil installations.

Nganjiwa made the appeal on Wednesday during the resumed hearing of the ex-militants case in Yenagoa.

He advised the youths to assist the federal government to end the resurgence of cases of attacks on oil installations in the region.

The judge commended them for seeking legal option to resolve their grievances against the amnesty office, and urged those behind the recent attacks to emulate them.

Nganjiwa appealed to the applicants to “help the federal government talk to Niger Delta Avengers to desist from bombing oil pipelines”.

“Tell them to be patient with the federal government, as their recent actions are not the best,” he said.

Earlier, K.O Sariki, counsel to the aggrieved ex-militants, had informed the court of their preparedness for out-of-court settlement with the parties in the suit.

The ex-militants in their suit before the Nganjiwa prayed the court to compel Paul Boroh, chairman of the amnesty implementation committee, to include them in the ongoing amnesty programme.

The applicants are; Asenekir Oyile, Angiama-Owei Oyindoubra, John Government, John Sawyer, Trydy Okpeke, Dollar Motor, Elebi Ayowei and Bobra Angese.

Others are: Henry Gomeromo, Bobra Angese and Ekerebi Ombe.

The applicants in their suit claimed that the amnesty committee erred by refusing to include them in the ongoing amnesty programme.

They claimed that they had series of resolutions from meetings with past and present national security advisers but they were still excluded from the programme.

The respondents said that they had accepted amnesty under the third phase after they surrendered their weapons to the federal government through the amnesty office in 2011 under the peace Initiative of the Federal Government.

They have also in their application sought an order of the court to compel the amnesty committee to pay each of them seven million naira as general damages and one million naira each representing cost of litigation.

Before adjourning hearing in the suit till June 29, Nganjiwa advised the youths to be peace ambassadors.