Why We Train Ex-Militants Abroad

The Presidential Amnesty Office on Wednesday said it trained ex-militants abroad in order to imbibe in them the value of relating well with other cultures and people.

The Special Assistant on Media in the Office, Mr Daniel Alabrah, said this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria  in Abuja.

Alabrah said the purpose of offshore training was to remove the ex-militants from the environment they were familiar with and expose them to other environments where they would mix with different races.

According to him, the arrangement is to help the ex-militants in the process of reintegrating with the larger society.

Alabrah said, “The reintegration is not only about giving them jobs but removing them from the environment they were used to and moving them to other environment.

“In their new environment, they are expected to mix with people from different races.

“So, we do not think that they will go back to militancy because we have exposed them to training in different environment that they now see themselves as persons belonging to normal society.

“Creek life is not an easy life. So, we do not expect people who have been to school as far as
Dubai, US and UK to return to the creeks.”

He expressed optimism that with the kind of training given to the former militants, it would be difficult of them return to the creeks.