The Interim Administrator of the Presidential Amnesty Programme (PAP), Col. Milland Dixon Dikio (rtd), has actually thrown his weight behind the war against prohibited refineries declared by Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike.

Dikio who spoke at the weekend in Port Harcourt, Rivers State throughout the 50th-anniversary dinner and award night of the Port Harcourt Polo Club, stated Wike’s effort should be complemented by all stakeholders in the area.

In a declaration signed on Sunday and sent out to DAILY POST by his Special Adviser Media, Neotaobase Egbe, Dikio said unlawful refineries were not the only reason for the ecological devastation in the area, insisting that other damaging practices were likewise accountable for polluting the environment.

He stated: “I applaud the Rivers State Governor, Wike, for handling the issue of illegal oil refineries also referred to as kpofire head-on. A lot of work still needs to be done. Kpofire is not the only toxin therefore separately and collectively what are we doing, especially business companies to reduce undesirable emissions into our environment”?

Dikio also advised individuals of the Niger Delta to stop quarreling over the designated percentage in the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA), saying chance would be created for future settlement.

“I will say that rather of quarrelling about the percentage, we must be talking about what to do with the percentage we got, build on it and we can have another conversation after that”, Dikio stated.

While reinforcing the PAP’s Train, Employ and Mentor (TEM), design, Dikio stated in the next 10 years, the Niger Delta ought to have a critical mass that would make individuals of the region competitive in all spheres.

He stated: “We’re trying to find collaborations with organizations that can train these ex-agitators and give them the needed abilities for employment in their organizations.

“We in PAP will spend for the training. It is a partnership since we want those who train them to guarantee that they will employ them.

“We are doing this which is a departure from the old model which just train people and put them back in the bloated unemployment market. We feel that is a waste of cash and everybody’s time. It increases the anxiety level in the economy and the polity”.

Earlier, the Chief Host, King Alfred Diette-Spiff, stated the video game of Polo was capturing up in the South-South noting that contrary to what many people thought, Polo was no longer an elite video game.