Maj.Gen. Barry Ndiomu (Rtd.), PAP’s Interim Administrator, (L) with Lt.-Gen. Faruk Yahaya, COAS.
The Nigerian Army was on Thursday approached by the Presidential Amnesty Programme (PAP) in the Niger Delta, for its assistance in empowering ex-agitators of the oil-producing region.
Retired Maj.-Gen. Barry Ndiomu, PAP’s Interim Administrator, made the plea when he paid a courtesy visit on the Chief of Army Staff (COAS), Lt.-Gen. Faruk Yahaya in Abuja.
Ndiomu said the challenges of meeting the mandate necessitated the call for collaboration in the area of human capital development and logistics to enable PAP implement its programmes and activities.
Acknowledging the contributions of the army to the programme over the years, particularly in the area of training, security and logistics support, Ndiomu said the army was one of the major institutions that had provided immense support to the amnesty programme right from inception in 2009.
Said he: “It is only wise to make the army one of the very first visits to solicit its continued support and cooperation towards our activities.
“The Nigerian army has quite a number of training sessions that may be necessary in the capacity building processes of the amnesty programme and we can collaborate.
“For example, we have a Nigerian Army School of Engineering and the Nigerian Army Electrical Maintenance Engineers Corps
“They run all kinds of courses that we think some of these ex-agitators can benefit from that will lead to a gainful employment or some other role in terms of entrepreneurship when they exit the programme eventually”.
Responding, Gen. Yahaya assured the interim administrator of the continuous support of the Nigerian Army for all of PAP’s programmes and activities to enable it achieve its mandate.
Yahaya recalled the long standing relationship between both organisations and promised to leverage on it for the benefit of all.
He congratulated Ndiomu for his appointment by President Muhammadu Buhari and expressed confidence in his capacity to discharge his duties efficiently.
