Niger Delta Amnesty Trainees Accuse Nimasa Of Abandonment, Demand Promises Be Fulfilled – July 22, 2025
Warri, Delta State – Over a decade after the launch of the Federal Government’s Presidential Amnesty Programme (PAP), disillusionment continues to trail the fate of hundreds of ex-agitators who laid down their arms in the Niger Delta. Once promised empowerment, foreign training, and reintegration, many now accuse the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) of derailing the vision and diverting resources intended for their future.
The Presidential Amnesty Programme was initiated by late President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua on June 25, 2009, aimed at restoring peace to the oil-rich but restive Niger Delta following years of militancy that disrupted oil production and cost the nation billions in revenue.
Under the agreement, over 30,000 ex-militants surrendered arms in exchange for rehabilitation, reintegration, education, and employment. By 2012, the programme had received over ₦234 billion in funding, according to reports from the Budget Office and Amnesty Office records.
NIMASA was later tasked with overseeing the maritime education component of the reintegration plan, with several Niger Delta youths sent to countries like Sweden, the Philippines, the UK, and India for training in seafaring and marine engineering, with the expectation of eventual employment in Nigeria’s oil and gas sector.
Many of the beneficiaries sent to Sweden around 2013–2015 for maritime training under the PAP/NIMASA scheme allege that their training was abruptly cut short. Several returned to Nigeria without certification, internships, or employment, left stranded with skills that were not utilized.
A former trainee who spoke under anonymity said:
“We were promised sea-time training and job placements. But after returning from Sweden, we were abandoned. For 10 years, we’ve been waiting for NIMASA or the Amnesty Office to keep their word.”
When President Bola Ahmed Tinubu assumed office in May 2023, he pledged reforms in various government agencies. In a bid to revive the broken components of the Amnesty Programme, Tinubu appointed Dr. Dennis Brutu Otuaro in March 2024 as the Presidential Amnesty Boss, a son of the Niger Delta and a former Special Assistant on Niger Delta Affairs to the Vice President.
In early 2025, NIMASA announced a plan to revive the maritime training scheme with a ₦65 billion reintegration budget, which was later increased to ₦151 billion, according to internal ministry memos leaked to investigative journalists. As part of this, a refresher course was organized in March 2025 at the Joe Marine Institute, Warri, for about 100 ex-trainees, rekindling hope of returning to Sweden for course completion by January 2026.
However, in July 2025, the Ministry of Maritime Affairs announced that 98 trainees had been “fully reintegrated” through the one-month course and would now be reassigned to the Federal Ministry of Agriculture for alternative employment a move that has angered many ex-agitators.
“They trained us as marine engineers and navigation officers; now they want to push us into agriculture? This is betrayal,” one affected beneficiary lamented.
Questions are being raised on how a project initially budgeted at ₦65 billion and later augmented by ₦86 billion (bringing the total to ₦151 billion) could result in a mere one-month course and no overseas re-training. Civil society groups and watchdogs have begun calling for a comprehensive audit.
“This reeks of fraud. How do you spend over ₦150 billion and end up with a one-month training in Warri?” asked Comrade Timi Ayebatari, a Niger Delta activist. “We demand a full forensic probe into how this money was used.”
The aggrieved beneficiaries are now threatening mass protests, warning of a breakdown of law and order if the government fails to fulfill its commitments.
“We surrendered our arms in good faith. Don’t push us back to the creeks,” said one angry ex-militant during a press conference in Warri.
The group is appealing to President Tinubu to intervene immediately, direct Dr. Dennis Otuaro to honor the original terms, and ensure the full reintegration of all amnesty trainees as promised.
The Amnesty Programme was designed to bring lasting peace and prosperity to the Niger Delta. But as new revelations of mismanagement and betrayal emerge, the sustainability of that peace is once again under threat.
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