National Coalition of Niger Delta Ex-Agitators, Akpodoro
*Committee prepares payment of stipends
The leader of the National Coalition of Niger Delta Ex-Agitators, (NCNDE-A), Eshanekpe Israel, popularly known as Akpodoro has saluted all Niger Delta ex-agitators on this year’s Easter asking them to stay safe and pray for the blessings of the season for Nigeria and the Delta region in particular.
Akpodoro stated this in a statement in Abuja, a copy made available to Apex News Exclusive on Sunday.
He called for calm among ex-militants who he noted may be agitated over the delay in the payment of stipends to beneficiaries of the Presidential Amnesty Programme.
According to him, the delay although painful will soon be a thing of the past.
The Urhobo-born former agitator explained that his coalition is privy to the efforts being made by the recently constituted committee set up by the federal government currently steering the affairs of the Amnesty Office to pay up to date the stipends due ex-militants as he called on their support for the committee to succeed.
“Members of the committee are doing their best to ensure early settlement of arrears of stipends owed ex-militants and to this end, we owe it a duty to support the meaningful efforts of the probe committee for the good of all.
“Arrangements are on top gear to make all beneficiaries smile like never before because we do know that positive change beckons in the administration of the Amnesty Programme,” the youth leader stated.
Easter, according to Akpodoro who doubles as the Coordinator of Urhobo Youth Forum for Change, (UYFC) is a season to reflect on the great sacrifice of the Lord Jesus for the human race and it should be seen as a season of peace, and forgiveness for one another noting that Christ was the reason for the season.
The need for peace in the Delta region, he added, cannot be over-emphasise and this underscores the need to support every effort by governments across divides to better the region.
On the dreaded Coronavirus pandemic, Akpodoro who is also the President of the Educationally Deprived Foundation, (EDF), noted that Christ Jesus has paid the price of “our sins on the Cross of Calvary” assuring that no affliction shall come upon the faithful as he urged Niger deltans to stand on the biblical promise of the Lord Jesus during the feast of passover, that: “when I see the blood, I will pass over you.” He called on the people of the region to support the efforts being made by the National Centre for Disease Control, (NCDC) to curtail the spread of the globally dreaded pandemic by observing the social distance policy and self isolation noting that the refusal to adhere to the lockdown order was not unconnected with the spread of the disease to other states in the country.
He pointed out that defaulters of the lockdown order were the cause for the increase in the spread of disease lately.
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