Former Militant Leaders Warn of Fresh Unrest Over Stalled Amnesty Payments

Former militant commanders in Delta and Bayelsa States have warned that a prolonged delay in monthly stipend payments under the Presidential Amnesty Programme could push disillusioned ex-agitators back toward illegal activity in the creeks.

Several beneficiaries say they have gone multiple months without payment, disrupting vocational training programmes and small businesses many had set up after disarming. "Amnesty is not just about the guns we surrendered years ago, it is a continuing promise," said one former commander who now runs a boat-building cooperative in Warri.

The Presidential Amnesty Office has attributed the delays to budgetary reconciliation processes and has promised beneficiaries that outstanding payments would be cleared in batches over the coming weeks. Officials maintain that the programme's training and reintegration components remain on track despite the payment backlog.

Security analysts note that the amnesty programme, first launched in 2009, remains a central pillar of relative calm in the creeks, and that repeated payment disruptions over the years have historically coincided with upticks in pipeline vandalism and illegal bunkering in affected areas.

Community leaders are urging the federal government to treat the payment backlog with urgency, warning that the cost of renewed unrest — to both oil output and community safety — would far outweigh the cost of the stipends themselves.