The FG has proposed N20bn for the initiative but the militants kicked against it, saying they will not accept it.
The ex-militants comprises those in the 6166 Presidential Amnesty Phase II, 3142 and 20192 Ex-militants Phase III and Phase I.
In a protest by the ex-militants in Warri, Delta State, on Monday, the group called on the Federal Government to respect the Memorandum of Understanding signed by the past administration.
On their placards with various inscription like, “Senate President, beg President to leave the amnesty budget alone;” “We say no to the plan to reduce the amnesty budget;” “Buhari, please don’t force us to go back to the creeks;” “Saraki, leave our budget alone;”, the ex-militants said they might go for war if nothing is done on this.
Speaking to journalists in Warri, the National Chairman of the 6166 Presidential Amnesty Phase II, Gen. Aso Tambo, accused the Federal Government of allegedly reducing their monthly stipend in the budget to N20bn as against the N68bn budgeted for the office last year.
He said, “Our problem is that we have been receiving budget of this programme from October 4, 2009 till today and our budget used to be N86bn. Last year it was N68bn. But this year, we were reliably informed that the 2016 budget for the programme is N20bn.
“If they are giving presidential amnesty programme a budget of N20bn, we don’t know what the Federal Government wants to use the money for because N24bn is what they use in paying the N65,000 monthly stipend of the 30,000 ex-militants. So, if you are giving a budget of N20bn, we don’t know what they want to use the money for. Is it for our stipend or is it to push us to the creeks to go and fight a war? Or they want to use the money to buy arms for us to go and fight Boko Haram?
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