Return our guns now or we will disrupt 2019 general election- militants tell govt.

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Some of the militants who returned arms in exchange of amnesty brokered by the Ondo State Government have asked the government to return their arms within the next 21 days or face another round of violent crimes in the Southwest geopolitical zone.

The former militants led by General Ogailo Ibory, expressed regrets that they submitted their arms to the government under the pretext of amnesty.

But the state government appealed to them to give it sometime within which to address their grievances.

Ibory, in a statement said they would not allow the 2019 election to hold but would disrupt the peace of Ondo, Ogun, Lagos and part of Niger Delta region if their requests were not acceded to.

“We are tired of the unfulfilled promises of the Ondo State Government that collected our guns since last year without any effort to make us benefit from the Amnesty programme of the Federal Government.

“Last year, we heeded to the appeal of the Ondo State Government through the Deputy Governor, Agboola Ajayi and the Commissioner for Lands and Housing, Donald Ojogo who came to the creeks to carry the six Epe students we kidnapped in protest.

“That time, the two of them promised to work out Amnesty for us and we thereafter agreed to drop our guns,” he said.

Accordi ng to him, “Up till now, we have been abandoned and no one is talking to us, they have used us and dumped us in the creeks and since last year, Amnesty is not coming.

“We are using this medium to request the Ondo State Government to kindly return our guns that they took from us since last year within twenty-one days.

“We are very serious and we are prepared for anything that will follow. We are saying this because if at the end of the twenty-one days the government does not return our guns they deceived us to take, we will hold the entire riverine areas of Ondo, Ogun and Lagos States to ransom.”

The group further warned: “Especially for Ondo State, no one should come to the riverine for any electioneering campaign. We are prepared for the worse.”

But the state government through the Commissioner for Lands and Housing who is also the Chairman of the Publicity subcommittee of the Amnesty Programme appealed to the militants to allow peace reign in the state.

Ojogo said they would only appeal to the ex-militants to give the government some time.

“It is true the Ondo State Government brokered the arms surrender deal that was approved by the Presidency. As I am talking to you now, the Deputy Governor who risked his life to drive that process is on top of the situation. We cannot come to press and give details of his efforts that are ongoing. But I can assure you that very soon, their expectations would be met.

“They should not just allow themselves to be used by selfish politicians and crisis entrepreneurs who tried, but failed in their desperate moves to frustrate the Amnesty offer for them.

“What we did was to engender peace and ensure there is an enabling environment for investors in the riverine areas of not just Ondo State but Ogun and Lagos.”

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