Ex-Militants, Joseph Evah on collision course over amnesty allowance
...Evah is short-changing us - Ex-militants
…No, am not but I will deal with them - Evah
Former freedom fighters (ex-militants) under the Phase 2 Amnesty Programme, have accused prominent Ijaw leader and National Coordinator of Ijaw Monitoring Group, Comrade Joseph Evah, of shortchanging them in the payment of their monthly amnesty allowances.
The aggrieved former foot soldiers of the accused the Ijaw activist, who they claimed got the contract to handle their disbursement, of fronting for amnesty official in a multimillion fraud in the payment of their monthly allowance.
Speaking under strict condition of anonymity this morning, the ex-militants of former Gberebeha Camp in Lagos, told Nation Evening Express that over 400 of their members from the are being systematically shortchanged by Comrade Evah and the amnesty official.
"Our counterparts under the leadership of Tompolo (Chief Government Ekpemupolo) and others are paid N65,000 per month and their payment is done monthly and regularly. But (Comrade) Evah pays us N55,000 out which we are asked to pay N10,000 to his community as development levy," they lamented.
They further claimed that the Ijaw leader adopt a method of payment that ensures that they are only paid twice in three month, adding, "He keeps the money in his account for weeks and pay the past month towards the end of the preceding month. Thereafter he tells us that we have been paid for the current month."
However, Evah, who spoke with our reporter from Ghana this morning, denied the allegation. He said, "I am not a militant, I never had any camp so how can I be responsible for the payment of militants?"
He further stated that he organizes programme and source sponsorship for programmes which beneficiaries are required to pay "something" for the development of their communities.
"(But) They don’t want to pay community levy; they do not want to contribute. I have told them (that) I am going to deal with them and I will deal with them," Evah vowed.
But his accusers claimed that the scheme is carried out in connivance with members of the Amnesty Office, who forward their petitions back to Evah, who in turn victimizes the authors to serve as deterrent to others.
"We are suffering oppression here; our petition to even the Chairman, Mr. Kingsley Kuku was forwarded to him (Evah) along with telephone numbers. In retaliation, he removed their names from the list and they have not been paid since then. He warned us that similar fates await those who speak out against the deal," our source added.
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