IJAW WOMEN TO EX-MILITANTS: YOU ARE UNGRATEFUL TO JOURNALISTS

                

Ijaw women, under the auspices of Women Initiatives for Values, Empowerment and Sustainability(WIVES) have lampooned recalcitrant ex-militants who invaded the Secretariat of the Nigeria Union of Journalist (NUJ), in Warri, Delta State, on Tuesday.
The group's president and former executive member of the Ijaw Youth Council (IYC), Tonbra Kasikoro, denounced the group. She said the aggrieved ex-militants are ungrateful for the support of the vibrant Warri press in the agitation for a better deal for the oil-rich region.
Kasikoro said  this morning, particularly faulted the crude method adopted by the youths, stressing that there are better ways for them to express their grievance with the Presidential Amnesty Programme, which she said, has recorded more results that all ministers from the region.
She said the Kingsley Kuku-led programme "is working and this is evident from the fact that oil production has reached its highest level in decades, as confirmed by the NNPC. That is enough proof that Kuku is getting it right."
She described the programme's training and skills acquisition programme, as a refreshing break from past efforts of "giving out fishes", adding that it is the best way to empower youths of the region.
"They should not allow the essence of the programme to be lost in their individual pursuits because it is intended to equip them with the required skills and knowledge to become independent and contribute to national development."
Kasikoro lamented that the action of the militants, under the guise of Phase II amnesty trainees, was capable of painting Niger Delta youths as loafers who are merely in search of handouts.
Consequently, she admonished all aggrieved persons to take their issues to the amnesty office rather than engaging in attacks such as that on the NUJ and other acts capable of casting the programme and Kuku in bad light.