Amnesty Office Advises Ambitious Politicians to Stop Smear Campaigns

The Amnesty Office on Wednesday  advised those it described as  enemies of the Niger Delta, particularly ambitious politicians eyeing the position of the Special Adviser to the President on Niger Delta and Coordinator
of the Presidential Amnesty Programme (PAP), Prof. Charles Dokubo to desist from smear campaigns and other ignoble acts capable of
portraying the people of the region in bad light.

The Office  said its attention had been drawn to mischievous reports in some print and online news portals on the circumstances surrounding the recent invasion of  the Presidential Amnesty Programme Vocational
Training Centre in Kaiama, Kolokuma/Opokuma Local Government Area of
Bayelsa State.

A statement issued by Murphy Ganagana, the Special Assistant (Media) to Dokubo said the malicious and false reports which followed a stage-managed protest hired by unnamed sponsors to achieve a pre-determined goal, had alleged that the Special Adviser to the President on Niger Delta and Coordinator, Amnesty Programme, Prof. Charles Dokubo, orchestrated the looting of items meant for the empowerment of residents of communities impacted during the Niger
Delta crises to cover up fraud at the Amnesty Office.

The statement said:  “The hired protesters also reportedly alleged that no action was taken by Prof. Dokubo throughout a five day period that the looting of starter pack items and vandalisation of property
at the training facility lasted.

“ We wish to state emphatically that these allegations are not only
nonsensical, entirely false, preposterous, mischievous and wicked, but
a
calculated attempt to smear the hard-earned reputation of Prof.
Dokubo, a descent and incorruptible scholar of international repute
who has, within one year in office, given hope to the Niger Delta
People through fresh initiatives that would reposition the Amnesty
Programme to its original  mandate.

“ It is on record that the invasion and looting of items at the Kaiama
training facility occurred in the presence of security personnel including
the police and the military deployed in the centre, but they were simply
overwhelmed by the numerical strength of the massive invaders,” the
statement said.

The incident, it added,  was also immediately reported at the
Divisional Police Headquarters at Kaiama, and later at the Bayelsa
State police command headquarters in Yenagoa, adding that complaint on
the incident by an official of the Amnesty Office was properly
document by the Bayelsa police in its crime diary.
“The police had promptly launched intensive investigation on the
incident and have some suspects in custody. None of the suspects
arrested in connection to the looting of items and vandalisation of
the facility, has linked any official of the Amnesty Office to the
crime.

“ We urge enemies of the Niger Delta, particularly ambitious politicians
eyeing Prof. Dokubo’s office to desist from smear campaigns and other
ignoble acts capable of portraying the Niger Delta people in bad light.
Sponsoring ill-motivated protests aimed at causing mischief and
splashing muddied water on Dokubo, a patriot and committed Niger
Deltan will do no one any good,” the Amnesty Office said.

It noted that President Muhammadu Buhari was committed and determined
to turn around the sad narrative of the Niger Delta through the
instrumentality of the Amnesty Programme, calling for collective
support by playing progressive  roles to compliment Dokubo in moving
the programme to the next level.
“ However, it is pertinent to state that Prof. Charles Dokubo will not be
distracted by the evil machinations of those working to rubbish his
modest achievements within a short span, but remain focused on
charting a new course for the Amnesty Programme and the Niger Delta,”
the statement concluded.