SOME former militants from the Niger Delta stor-med the Federal Secretariat, Abuja, on Wednesday, demanding their inclusion in the amnesty programme, amid other demands.

The ex-militants also demanded that they be included in the third phase of the amnesty pro-gramme.

Some of them said they were captured in the programme, but were yet to be included in the pay roll.

One of the protesters, who gave his name as Alex Makaraba, said they were yet to receive the money promised them as a pre-requisite for dropping arms.

“The government asked us to drop our guns for the third phase of the amnesty. We’ve dropped all our guns; they gave us certificates and did accreditation. They promised us that very soon, they are going to pay us and empower us,” he said.

No government official received them, even as some security personnel took charge of the situation to ensure there was no breakdown of law and order.

Meanwhile, the presidential amnesty office has denied that the group of protesters were members of the amnesty programme.

In a statement in Abuja, the office said “the amnesty office understands that this is part of an ongoing agitation for inclusion in a purported third phase of the amnesty programme, which has now been hijacked by impostors claiming to be former agitators in the Niger Delta.

“For the umpteenth time and for the avoidance of doubt, the office wishes to state that its records show that only 26,358 amnesty beneficiaries have been demobilised and documented in phase one and phase two of the amnesty programme.

“We, therefore, consider as impostors, those claiming to belong to a third phase of the amnesty programme and have recently staged protests in Benin City, Edo State; Warri in Delta State and in Abuja, the Federal Capital Territory.”

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