The amnesty for the militants in the Niger Delta was announced by Nigeria's former President Umaru Musa Yar' Adua on June 25, 2009. The amnesty was granted in accordance with section 175 of the 1999 Constitution which provides that 'the President may grant any person concerned with or convicted of any offence created by an Act of the National Assembly a pardon, either free or subject to lawful conditions'.
The Amnesty programme is traceable to four major developments. First is the South-South Legislative Retreat convened by Vanguard and sponsored by the governors of South-South States in Port Harcourt, August 2008, whose communiqué anchored on abrogation of some petroleum laws as they affect the region and Amnesty for Militants, was presented to the president. Chaired by Justice Karibi-White (Rtd) and attended by eminent persons like Chief E.K.
Clark, the conference was declared open by Vice President Jonathan, who facilitated the presentation of the communiqué to president Yar’Adua ( Mavua,2014).
Second were the efforts of the Security and Peace Committee and the series of consultations between government officials, regional leaders and militant leaders between 2007 and 2008, and the efforts of the then Vice President Goodluck Jonathan who through 2007 and 2009 embarked on peace missions
C P E D M o n o g r a p h S e r i e s 2 0 1 4
31
to the militant camps in the region to convince them on the need for cessation of hostilities and peace. Third was the Niger Delta Technical Committee which was chaired by Mr. Ledum Mitee. Among others, the committee recommended an Amnesty Programme for militants. Fourth was the failure of the attempt at military solution by the decisive attack on Gbaramantu Kingdom and the militant camps therein in May 2009. The subsequent militant attacks on the oil infrastructure brought down crude oil production drastically to its lowest level of below 900,000 by mid 2009. This necessitated a strategic rethink of government approach to the region’s agitation and militancy.
The strategic rethink following the massive threat of the activities of militant groups to the nation’s economy and security, moved government to urgently differentiate between the criminal elements and those who had genuine issues in the region. Though militancy and armed resistance which began between 1998 and 1999, was ostensibly a part of the struggle for fairer distribution of the nation’s oil wealth in favour of the impoverished people of the Niger Delta, the government believed as stated by former president Yar’Adua that “the criminals have hijacked genuine agitations in the region and constituted themselves into very real threats to Nigeria’s national security and economic survival.” Finally, the Niger Delta agitation was a component part of the Seven Point Agenda of the Yar’Adua Administration and the new government tended to portray a genuine desire to resolve the crisis and commence real transformation of the region.
C P E D M o n o g r a p h S e r i e s 2 0 1 4
32
The Amnesty programme is based on the need to achieve sustainable development, peace, human and environmental security in the Niger Delta region. According to the then Chairman of the Amnesty Implementation Committe, General Godwin Abbe (Rtd), the goal of the amnesty programme is to achieve peace, reconciliation, reintegration, healing and sustainable development (The News, 2009).
The Presidential Amnesty Programme (PAP) was a somewhat legal approach to security, politics and conflicts (Amoda 2009), by granting a general pardon to release the criminally-culpable from the just punishment of the law; and deliberately overlooking offenses against the government. Thus the relationship assumed by government between it and the Niger Delta militants is juridical;
the militants are pardoned instead of being punished for engaging in criminal activities in other to foster peace and progress. In other words, PAP is an explicit or implicit acceptance by the government that militant activities in the Niger Delta is the product of neglect and underdevelopment which can be attributed to corruption and lack of political will of governments. PAP is thus based on the acceptance of the fact that violent conflict can easily develop if large numbers of people become convinced that taking up arms is not only legitimate but may perhaps be the only way to secure the necessities of life. In other words, militancy may occur if people feel that they are in an unjust situation and must therefore decide to rectify it (Smith, 2002).
This contention is buttressed by President Yar'Adua's statement in his 2009 Independence Day broadcast that 'with a view to engendering lasting peace in the area, we proclaimed a general amnesty and granted unconditional pardon
C P E D M o n o g r a p h S e r i e s 2 0 1 4
33
to all those who had taken up arms as a way of drawing attention to the plight of the people of the Niger Delta. He pledged that:
on this day and in the spirit of rededication, we renew our commitment to confronting the challenges of critical infrastructure in the Niger Delta, food security, security of lives and property, human capital development, land tenure and wealth creation' (The Guardian, 2009).
3.2 DISARMAMENT, DEMOBILIZATION, REHABILITATION AND