The President, Muhammadu Buhari has approved the appointment of Major General Barry Ndiomu (retd.) as Interim Administrator of the Amnesty Programme. This is according to a statement signed late Thursday by the President’s Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Femi Adesina, titled ‘President Buhari Appoints Major Gen BT Ndiomu (retd.) as amnesty programme interim administrator.’ According to Adesina, “The appointee hails from Odoni in Sagbama Local Government Area of Bayelsa State, and was admitted to the Nigerian Defence Academy as part of 29th Regular Combatant Course.
“He was commissioned Second Lieutenant in 1983. He held several command and staff appointments in the course of his successful military career. He retired in December 2017.
“Gen Ndiomu also trained as a lawyer, and is alumnus of National Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies, Administrative Staff College of Nigeria, Badagry, Harvard Kennedy School, and George C Marshall Centre for European Security Studies, among others.”
The Presidential Amnesty Programme was created by President Musa Yar’Adua’s administration in 2009, as part of the government’s measures to reduce militancy in the oil-rich Niger Delta region. Its aim was to persuade militants to give up their arms for amnesty and reintegration.
Thirty-thousand former militants had been enrolled into the programme so far. Sixty-five per cent of them are currently under training, while 65 per cent have been successfully reintegrated, according to the information on the programme’s website.