Delta State Governor, Emmanuel Uduaghan, has again appealed to restive youths in the state, to lay down their arms and embrace the Federal Government's amnesty, in the overall development of the area in particular, and the country in general.

To this end, the state governor has set up Amnesty Advocacy Committee, to advocate on how to woo leaders, elders, youths and stakeholders in the state to embrace the amnesty. Uduaghan said this yesterday in Asaba, when Director General, National Orientation Agency (NOA), Alhaji Idi Faruk, along with top officials of the Agency, paid a courtesy call at the government house.

“The amnesty offers a lee way for youths in the creeks to come out and live a normal life.

It is intended to encourage our youths to embrace peace. If you burst oil pipelines, you are not only punishing the nation economically, but our people who derive their livelihood from water will be affected from the contaminated water.

Every Nigerian should condemn this because we cannot achieve anything by vandalising our pipelines,” he said.

While listing the gains of the amnesty, Faruk, said “upon renunciation of militancy and surrendering of arms and ammunition, the militants would be rehabilitated in accordance with government’s amnesty.”

Faruk said the amnesty should be seen as a turning point in the history of Niger-Delta region, because government had shown determination and commitment to a rapid and massive development of the region through its peace and security agenda of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) and creation of Ministry of Niger Delta Affairs.He said by the amnesty initiative, the Federal Government had demonstrated its readiness and willingness to restore genuine and lasting peace to the Niger Delta, so as to allow the much needed development of the region to commence, adding that government had also demonstrated that conflict resolution is a give and take process.

He said these developments informed the Agency's desire to commence a one month enlightenment and mobilisation campaign in the nine states of the region, to drive home the need for youths to lay down arms and embrace the amnesty, and to emphasise importance of the amnesty package.