No fewer than 200 ex-agitators of the Bakassi Defence Force have been profiled to be trained in the integrated agricultural value chain in Nasarawa, the Cross River government has said.
Maj.-Gen. Okoi Obono (rtd.), Senior State Security Adviser to Governor Bassey Otu of Cross River, made the remark while speaking to journalists before the departure of the ex-militants on Monday in Calabar.
The ex-militants are going to Nasarawa to be taken into CSS Global Farms, where they will learn innovative agricultural practices.
Mr Obono explained that the 200 were those who responded to the “olive branch’’ extended by the governor and decided to drop their arms.
He commended the courage of the ex-agitators who, he said, had been in the Bakassi creeks for a long time to come out.
The security adviser said the governor’s ultimatum to militants to drop their weapons was due to the state’s zero tolerance for crime.
According to him, “We have two sets of training for them; the first is to change their mindset because they have been in a very hostile environment for a very long time.”
Mr Obono said the second was the empowerment training in Nasarawa for them to be self-reliant, as it was necessary for them not to go back to their old ways.
“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, as the state will have some level of respite,” he noted.
He encouraged the beneficiaries to stay and learn in Nassarawa to improve their lives and urged others yet to drop their arms to emulate the group for their own good and that of the state.
Similarly, Patrick Egbede, the Commissioner for Wealth Creation and Employment, stated that the ex-agitators would be in Nasarawa for two weeks, with all expenses covered by the government of Cross River.
Mr Egbede said the state was in partnership with CSS Global Farms to ensure that the ex-militants behaved well during the training.
He, however, urged the beneficiaries to comport themselves during the training to make the governor empower them beyond their expectations, as well as others who are ready to drop their arms.
One of the beneficiaries, Obong-Ete Ini-Okon, expressed his appreciation for the training, noting that they had decided to participate due to the governor’s generosity.
“Our struggle was not to destroy Cross River or Nigeria but to create the awareness that we were abandoned when Bakassi, our home, was ceded to Cameroon.
“We were not the ones responsible for kidnappings in the state and along the waterways. So, I use this opportunity to call on any confraternity in possession of illegal arms and promoting kidnapping to surrender and get a better life,” he said.
Mr Ini-Okon added that being in the creeks was not easy because many of their colleagues had lost their lives.
