Aggrieved ex-militant leaders numbering over 100, on Friday, issued the Federal Government a three-day ultimatum to pay their allowances.
The militants under the aegis of the Leadership Forum for Peace in Niger Delta, rose from their meeting in Yenagoa, Bayelsa State, and declared that failure to pay the allowances would lead to crisis in the region.
The ex-militant leaders who were drawn from Edo, Rivers, Imo, Cross River, Akwa Ibom, Delta and Bayelsa States, lamented that the government had abandoned all agreements they reached with the late President Umaru Yar’Adua.
The leaders said they could only appeal to their members to maintain peace till February 13.
The leader of he group, ‘General’ Rueben Wilson, said the non-payment of allowances was not the fault of the Special Adviser to the President on Niger Delta Affairs and Coordinator of the Amnesty Programme, Mr. Kingsley Kuku.
He blamed the development on the National Assembly and the presidency.
He said the ex-militant leaders were being threatened by their lieutenants who were frustrated by the inaction of the government.
He said, “Our boys have not been paid. They are threatening us by sending different messages to us. If the money is delayed beyond Wednesday, there would be crisis because our boys have become unruly and impatient.
“We are giving the Federal Government up till Wednesday to pay our money. If the money is not paid, anything that happens, they should not blame the leaders, because we cannot talk to our boys beyond Wednesday.”
