No fewer than 200 ex-agitators of the Bakassi Defence Force have been profiled for training in the integrated agricultural value chain in Nassarawa, according to the Cross River government.
Maj.-Gen. Okoi Obono (rtd.), Senior State Security Adviser to Gov. Bassey Otu of Cross River, made this known while addressing journalists before the ex-agitators departed Calabar on Monday.
The group will be trained at CSS Global Farms in Nasarawa, where they will learn innovative agricultural practices.
Obono explained that the 200 individuals were those who accepted the ‘olive branch’ extended by the governor and willingly laid down their arms.
He praised their courage, noting that many had spent extended periods in the Bakassi creeks.
He stated that the governor’s ultimatum to militants to disarm stemmed from the state’s zero tolerance for criminal activity.
“We have two sets of training for them. The first is to change their mindset, having come from a very hostile environment,” he said.
Obono added that the second phase was empowerment training in Nassarawa to ensure they become self-reliant and avoid returning to militancy.
“The creeks have been a problem for us. We are just trying to stabilise, so getting this number of people from those areas is good for the state’s peace,” he noted.
He urged the beneficiaries to remain in Nassarawa and take the training seriously to improve their lives, encouraging others still armed to follow suit for their own and the state’s benefit.
Mr Patrick Egbede, Commissioner for Wealth Creation and Employment, stated that the training would last two weeks, with all expenses covered by the Cross River government.
He said the state partnered with CSS Global Farms to ensure proper conduct among participants during the training.
He also advised the beneficiaries to behave responsibly in order to receive further empowerment and inspire others to disarm.
One of the ex-agitators, Mr Obong-Ete Ini-Okon, expressed appreciation for the opportunity, saying they laid down arms because of the governor’s magnanimity.
“Our struggle was not to destroy Cross River or Nigeria but to create awareness that we were abandoned when Bakassi, our home, was ceded to Cameroon,” he said.
“We were not responsible for kidnappings in the state and along the waterways.”
He called on confraternities still in possession of illegal arms and promoting kidnapping to surrender and seek a better life.
Ini-Okon added that life in the creeks was difficult, and many of their comrades had died there.
(NAN)