Buhari extends Niger Delta Amnesty until December 2017

President Muhammadu Buhari has approved a two- year extension of the Presidential Amnesty Programme to henceforth terminate in 2017.

The shift in date was announced in Abuja by Retired Brig, General Paul Boroh, Special Adviser to the President on Niger Delta and Coordinator of the Presidential Amnesty Programme.

He said the Amnesty Office was removing a total of 3,232 beneficiaries from the programme.

According to Boroh, they have been trained as entrepreneurs and equipped to start up their own businesses adding that another batch of 1,042 are currently receiving starter packs to enable them start off immediately.

The initial five years of the progamme lapsed last December.

He however explained that the extension was to implement an exit strategy and also forestall a resurgence of militancy in the Niger Delta.

The Amnesty programme had secured admission and a given scholarship to 5234 beneficiaries in local and 131 offshore institutions.

A breakdown of the figure showed that 3082 of the admissions are in local institutions, while 2150 are abroad, and 272 of the figure have so far graduated.