Ex-militants in Moscow attack

THE attack on the Nigerian Embassy by ex-
Niger Delta militants studying at the People's
Friendship University, Moscow is another such
incident of unruliness.
The students were said to have been irked by
the non-remittance of their September
allowances, as well as tardiness of officials in
attending to their health needs.
After the attack that resulted in the
cancellation trade talks between Abuja and
Moscow, the Amnesty Office announced the
withdrawal of six students from the
scholarship programme. They were the alleged
ring leaders.
The measure was taken, the Amnesty Office
said, because the students committed a gross
misconduct contrary to their signed
undertakings before they proceeded on the
course. It was also meant as a deterrent to
other beneficiaries of the programme.
Ex-militants have been involved in some
infractions, including the clash last year at
Igbinedion University, Okada, in which two
students died.
Often, complaints of the ex-militants are
ignored. Last year, 67 of them were withdrawn
from a programme in a Turkish school — it
was not their fault. Mid-way through their
programme, the Amnesty Office discovered the
school's programmes were not accredited.
How were the students in Moscow expected to
survive without their allowances? How were
they to cater for their sick colleagues? That
the educational opportunities extended to
them are meant to convert them to skilled
citizens, who would contribute to the greatness
of society cannot excuse the weak management
of the programme.
We do not support lawlessness. The students
portrayed the nation in bad light in the eyes of
the world but so did those, who failed to cater
for them.
The ex-militants should appreciate
magnanimity Nigeria extended to them through
the amnesty programme. They should start
conditioning themselves to living within the
law, and using legitimate processes in resolving
their concerns.
We call on the many non-governmental
organisations and activists that canvassed the
amnesty package, including the educational re-
orientation, to play their roles in getting the
beneficiaries of the post-amnesty programme
to adjust themselves to a life of personal
endeavour, as government will not continue to
run the programme indefinitely.
However, the Amnesty Office has to lift the
cloak of secrecy that pervades its operations; it
is one of the ways of getting assistance and
aligning its operations with national
expectations of openness founded on the law.
The authorities, particularly the National
Assembly, should look more closely at the
amnesty programme to forestall further ugly
incidents. It is possible the operations require
more resources; it is also possible that the
challenge is management of available
resources. Whatever it is, the conduct of some
ex-militants under rehabilitation raises
questions about the implementation of the
amnesty programme. The concerns are not
totally new.