Hyacinth Chinweuba
About 3,232 beneficiaries of the Presidential Amnesty Programme (PAP) have received business starter packs after their training as entrepreneurs and secured employment for 400 beneficiaries of the Oil and Gas International Foundation (OGIF).
The amnesty programme was instituted to uplift ex-militants in the Niger Delta, who dropped their arms to embrace the programme.
A statement signed by Mr. Owei Lakemfa, head of Media and Communications of the Presidential Amnesty Programme (PAP) in Abuja, said that a second batch of 1,042, who are currently being given starter packs to establish their individual businesses would soon be exited from the programme.
It noted that depending on the budgetary allocation and release, the Amnesty Office plans to exit an additional 2,958 beneficiaries at the end of 2016.
It stated that the exercise was a significant step in the five-year Amnesty Programme, which had never exited any of the 30,000 beneficiaries, adding that it was also part of the exit strategies of the programme.
According to the statement, the Amnesty Programme has trained 17,322 of the beneficiaries leaving a balance of 12,678.
It explained that it has embarked on the domestication of all its programmes and that it has five of its 49 training centres offshore with students in 131 tertiary institutions abroad.