Former agitators in the Niger Delta have condemned a statement credited to Sobomabo Jackrich aka Egberipapa, a former sub-Commander, for calling on the President to sack his Special Adviser on Niger Delta and Chairman, Presidential Amnesty Programme (PAP), Hon. Kingsley Kuku.The former agitators, in a press release issued by the Coalition of Niger Delta Ex-Agitators, urged President Goodluck Jonathan to ignore Egberipapa, saying he is a joker, who wants to play games with the amnesty programme and the current peace in the Niger Delta.
The spokesperson of the group, Joseph Turu, said Egberipapa’s call was a surprise as he had been singing the praise of Hon. Kuku and wondered why he was now talking from the two sides of his mouth. “This is not new about Egberipapa. It is his style to run people down. This is his pattern of gaining attention when he needs money since he cannot continue with his nefarious acts in Rivers State,” Turu said.
Another leader of the group, Tunde Agboufa, expressed shock at Egberipapa’s comment at a time the amnesty programme has been acclaimed to being properly run by Kuku.“His comment and attack on Kuku is deceptive, unfounded and targeted at smearing the good reputation of the Special Adviser to the President,” he said.In his comment, another member of the group, Matthew Daniel, said Egberipapa’s antics were well known and that his attack on the Amnesty Office was misplaced.He also said the Amnesty Office should not be blamed for any delay in the payment of their monthly stipends.“This is a man who claims to be supporting Mr President and yet having nocturnal meetings with those who do not see anything good in Mr President.
“On the delay in payment of our stipends and allowances, Egberipapa will be unfair to Hon. Kuku if he shifts the blame to him. For instance, for the September 2013 stipend, we were informed that it was sent to the bank on September 27. Those who bank with Fidelity got their alert the same day but those with other banks received theirs at a later date. This is not Kuku’s fault but the banking system,” he said.
