Lagos –  An Ijaw leader and two beneficiaries of the amnesty programme meant for former militants in the Niger-Delta on Thursday urged President Muhammadu Buhari to assist in the payment of their school fees.
They told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos that the non-payment of the school fees would lead to the ejection of over 3,000 beneficiaries of the programme from their various institutions abroad .
Mr Regent Youmor, the Adviser of the Ijaw National Congress, Lagos chapter, said that some beneficiaries of the programme returned to the country on Wednesday following their ejection from their schools.
“They were ejected from their various schools due to the non-payment of their school fees.
“This is an appeal to President Muhammadu Buhari that the amnesty programme seems to be technically grounded due to the non-payment of the students’ school fees.
“Our students have been ejected from their schools abroad because of lack of payment of fees as there is no officer to release funds at the amnesty office.
“The President should address the issue of amnesty and get the funds released to let these students go back to their schools,” he pleaded.
Youmor said that the beneficiaries had been sent back home from their various schools in Italy, Germany and the U.S.
He added that thousands of indigent students in various universities in the country were also affected.
Youmor said, “We all know the implications of the stoppage of the programme.
“We all know the effects it will have on our economy. Our boys will go back to agitate and we do not want this to happen.’’
Also, two of the beneficiaries who spoke to NAN, urged the president to respond urgently to enable them complete their programmes.
One of them, Mr Tony Suyei, a 26-year-old beneficiary under the piloting programme in an Italy based centre, Eli Friula, said that stoppage of the programme would leave them with nothing to fall back on.
“The Federal Government has spent so much to take us to this level and it will be a waste of time and resources if we do not complete the course.
“We have only few months left and we can come back home to start a new life.
“If the programme is stopped, we will be left with nothing and it will be a waste to both the government and us, because we have dissipated so much energy to study,” Suyei said.
Also, a 22-year-old pilot student in the same centre, Mr Barnabas Uwawah, said that he had only a phase to complete the programme.
“We started the private licence phase which we have completed and we are now in the commercial phase.
“We have finished over 75 per cent of the aviation programme.
“After this, we will have finished the ground phase and then get to the other phase that will enable us to work in any prestigious company in Nigeria.
“We are appealing to the president to respond urgently, because these things take procedures and we need to go back quickly,” he said.