The systematic exclusion of the Itsekiri Nation in the Presidential Amnesty Programme, PAP , has drawn the irk of the Itsekiri Youths Elite ( IYE)
IYE, tasked the leadership of Ugbarajo Itsekiri Youths, UIY, not only to petition the Senate Committee on Ethics, Privileges and Public Petitions, over what they described as Dr. Dennis Otuaro’s deliberate exclusion of Itsekiri Nation in the Presidential Amnesty Programme, PAP but to also take necessary steps to bring this to the stakeholders.
The statement made available to newsmen on Tuesday November 4, by the leadership of Itsekiri Youth Elites, IYE decried the way the Itsekiri nation is being sidelined by Dennis Otuaro.
In the statement signed by the Secretary and Public Relations Officer, Comrade Eboma Tuoyo Michael and Comrade Toritseju Joseph Ogharandukun, respectively, IYE, stressed the need for UIY, to take immediate and decisive action to address the ” grave injustice against the Itsekiri Nation.”
They accused Coordinator of the Presidential Amnesty Programme, Dr. Dennis Otuaro, of “systematic bias and oppression,” alleging that Itsekiri ex-agitators have been unjustly excluded from the scheme.
Beyond formal petitioning, the Itsekiri Youth Elites, urged the UIY leadership to mobilise a peaceful, but determined mass protest, targeting the Presidential Amnesty Office and the Office of the National Security Adviser (NSA), under whose supervision the Programme operates.
IYE warned that if Dr. Shola Mese, who they identified as the Sole Itsekiri Representative in the Amnesty Programme and official liaison to the Olu of Warri, is not duly recognised by Dr. Otuaro and allocated the appropriate slots, tension could escalate within the region.
According to the group, the time for diplomatic appeals had passed, hence UIY should rise boldly, defend Itsekiri interests and demand accountability as well as fairness from the Amnesty Programme.
