Abuja – The Coordinator, Presidential Amnesty Programmme, Brig.-Gen. Paul Boroh (rtd) has advised youths in the Niger Delta region to allow the ongoing peace process between the Federal Government and the people of the region to work.

Boroh stated this in a statement on Monday in Abuja.

He said  that the dialogue process initiated by the Federal Government would yield the expected result.

“ My experience in the United Nations, Sierra Leone and Liberia, has made me to realise that peace process can be slow but remains the best option.

“While dialogue and the peace process can  be tasking, exerting and quite expensive, it remains far cheaper compared to violence.”

He said that most of the 16-point list presented to  the Federal Government by the Pan Niger Delta Elders Forum (PANDEF) needed  careful study and painstaking negotiations.

” I ,therefore, advise the youths to give the PANDEF a chance, especially when it comprises all the broad sections and interests in the Niger Delta, including youths, elders, traditional rulers, intellectuals and professionals.

“This presents the best opportunity to make the case for the development of the region rather than a relapse of the peace process which would negatively affect all and scare away investors.

“If there are youths who want to contribute to the PANDEF list or have suggestions, they should do so with words not with explosives.”

The coordinator admitted that the vandalism of oil facilities hurt the economy, but added that it also hurts all Nigerians irrespective  of age, gender, religion or region.

“It hurts the region more because such destruction is on the area’s soil with negative implications for farming, fishing, the environment and living in peace.”

He said that besides the Amnesty beneficiaries, the Presidential Amnesty Office, had also made scholarships available to 1,800 youths from impacted communities.

He, however, said with better funding, the programme would extend its agriculture training and empowerment to other Niger Delta youths.

Boroh, who is also the Special Adviser to the President on Niger Delta, noted that the youths are the future of the country and therefore, have a stake in building a future of peace and development.

He urged beneficiaries of the Presidential Amnesty Programme to shun violence and resist the temptation from  politicians to recruit them as thugs during elections, including the scheduled Dec. 10 re-run elections in Rivers .

The Coordinator warned that any beneficiary who violated the amnesty oath would not only be prosecuted but also de-listed from the programme and all his  entitlements stopped.

He said that if such culprits were leaders of camps benefiting from the amnesty, the stipends, entitlements and support for all members of such camps would be discontinued.

Boroh condemned the recent attacks on oil facilities despite the Nov. 1 commitment to dialogue by PANDEF.