N3.8bn suit: Ex-Militant Leaders Caution Justice Ministry Officials Over Sabotage

Angry ex-militant leaders from the nine states of the Niger Delta have cautioned officials of the Federal Ministry of Justice over an alleged plot to sabotage the Presidential Amnesty Programme’s (PAP) defence in a pending suit.

They described the N3.8 billion suit plus damages filed by the accused 15 companies involved in the 2019 looting of Amnesty Training Centre as a great risk following alleged plot by officials of the justice ministry, led by the Solicitor-General of the Federation and Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Justice, Mrs. Beatrice Jedy-Agba, to sabotage the case.  They, therefore, threatened to declare all officials of the justice ministry concerned persona non grata across the nine states in the Niger Delta region and order citizens arrested in the region.

The ex-militant leaders, under the aegis of the Reintegrated Ex-Militants Forum (REF), in a statement issued by the national coordinator, former General Tony Ebikalaide (aka Black Spider), claimed that alerts have been issued to all militant camps to be on the lookout across the entire Niger Delta region, to ensure a citizen’s arrest of officials in the justice ministry fingered in the alleged plot to sabotage the PAP case for their personal benefits.

“Instead of the officials of the Federal Ministry of Justice to support the legal representation made by the Amnesty office legal team against the suits filed by the accused companies in the tune of N3.8 billion, plus 21 percent post – judgment fees, and special damages, which can go as high as N5 billion to N8 billion, they are busy sabotaging the Amnesty office’s efforts in court, by removing the Amnesty programme’s legal adviser and other experienced legal officers from the Amnesty office to deprive the Amnesty office from putting in proper representation in court,” Ebikalaide stated.

The REF called on President Muhammadu Buhari and other officials in the Presidency to take note of the schemes by some officials within the Federal Ministry of Justice and the Judiciary, of alleged collusion with plaintiffs suing the federal government.

“These judiciary staff have taken our silence for weakness. Since the appointment of Col. Dikio (retd), the Niger Delta region has been the most peaceful region in the country.

We are aware in the past that the sons and daughters of the Niger Delta region are the ones being used to truncate efforts of our region’s intervention agencies, such as the NDDC and the Presidential Amnesty Programme, and against the development of our region, including the empowerment of the people in the Niger Delta region. But this time-around, we want to warn the justice ministry staff, particularly those who hail from the Niger Delta states, to tread carefully, as they are no longer welcome in Edo state or any other state across the Niger Delta region.”