The interim administrator of the Presidential Amnesty Programme (PAP), Milland Dikio, has appealed to the Nigerian military to train and mentor former Niger-Delta militants.

Mr Dikio also mentioned that as an institution, the military had a vital role to play in the newly-introduced Train, Employ and Mentor (TEM) Scheme,designed to provide a new approach to the training and empowerment of ex-agitators.

Mr Dikio stated this when he led senior officials of PAP to visit the Nigerian Naval Engineering College, Sapele, Delta and the Naval Shipyard Limited in Port Harcourt, Rivers.
He said apart from specialised maritime and engineering courses, the ex-agitators would also be exposed to military discipline and precision.

Mr Dikio, in a statement issued on Wednesday by his media aide Nneotaobase Egbe, explained that PAP would build on such partnership to further reposition the scheme.
He noted that PAP was going through a lot of transformation.
“I know the military has a lot of highly installed capacity and as much as possible, those of us looking in from outside want to tap into the capacity through knowledge and skill transfer. This creates the bridge that enhances the civil-military relationship in our society,” he stressed.
Speaking further, he noted, “On the substance of it, the core of the ex-agitators are largely from the riverine communities and so the current management of PAP is of the thought process that they have inherent skills and if we can convert that energy positively, they will contribute to our dominance of the maritime economy.”
He added that many of the former Niger Delta militants “are beginning to realise that the economy of the Niger Delta is not just oil.” 
In his remarks, the commandant of the Nigerian Naval Engineering College, A. Abdullahi enumerated some of the courses offered by the institution and said they were ready to work with PAP to achieve its intentions for the ex-militants.
Also, the Superintendent of the Naval Shipyard Limited, S.J. Oyegade, pledged the support of the company towards the realisation of the core objectives of the PAP.  

(NAN)