By Simon Utebor, Yenagoa

The Joint Task Force (JTF) in the Niger Delta, codenamed ‘Operation Delta Safe’, says the strategies being adopted by the Interim Administrator, Presidential Amnesty Programme (PAP), Col. Milland Dixon Dikio (rtd), has promoted peace in the region.

The Commander, OPDS, Rear Admiral Aminu Hassan, stated this on Saturday when the amnesty boss paid him a courtesy visit in Yenagoa, Bayelsa State.

Hassan attributed the calm in the Niger Delta to Dikio’s constant engagements with ex-agitators and his prompt payment of their monthly stipends.

He described the amnesty office as critical to the sustenance of the peace in the region.

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Addressing Dikio, he said: “Your area of assignment is of interest to us because whatever is happening there has a ripple effect on us. If there is peace in the work you are doing, we can feel the peace and we can also touch it and know there is peace. But if there is no peace we are the first line of defence for that.

“But we can see there is peace. We appreciate your good work. Some of us have been following all you have been doing in that area. Since you took over, there have been two key strategies you adopted that I believe are the way to go.

“One is that you are always around the ex-agitators and that is a very good strategy. You are always with them. You hear from them and you talk with them. We are all human beings and all us need that sense of belonging and when we have it, it reduces tension and pressure.

“Second is the regular payment of stipends. It is another key area and I am encouraging you to always continue along that line. These two areas of continuous engagement and regular payment of stipends are very important and they are really solving a lot of problems.”

In his response, Dikio explained that his visit was part of his ‘Return to the Region Tour’, a programme he initiated last year to integrate all critical stakeholders into his vision to actualize the original mandate of PAP.

He said on assumption of office, he observed that the major reason the ex-agitators regularly trooped to the streets in protest was because of lack of payment of their allowances.

Dikio said he made it a deliberate policy that the monthly stipends for the agitators must be paid on 25th of every month, adding that despite the hiccups in June, the allowances were paid on 21st ahead of schedule.

He said amnesty delegates after their meeting in Agadagba resolved to tame kidnapping and piracy on the waterways adding that PAP would seek areas of collaboration with the Chief of Naval Staff (CNS) on maritime security.

He said: “We noted from the beginning that the major issue that led to their outpouring on the street is the lack of payment of their allowances. We have taken measures to ensure that their payment is received regularly and timely and we set for ourselves 25th of every month as their pay day.

“This month we started payment on 21st. We paid ahead of schedules. The kind of training they received in the past was not adequate to prepare them for reintegration. So, we have decided to train, employ and mentor. We are around to check facilities where we can train, mentor them before they can own their businesses.”