Interim Administrator of the Presidential Amnesty Programme(PAP), Col. Milland Dixon Dikio (rtd), has categorized operators of prohibited refineries as murderers, stating they contribute to the unfortunate death of many individuals in the Niger Delta.

Dikio spoke on Friday in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, at a one-day awareness and sensitization workshop organized by PAP’s Strategic Communication Committee (STRACOM).

Regreting the health threats positioned by prohibited refineries, Dikio said everybody living in Port Harcourt was at a risk of dying for inhaling poisonous substances from such refineries.

He interested all stakeholders, especially ex-agitators to jointly bring an end to prohibited oil bunkering to save the region from the looming environmental and health catastrophe.

He also charged youths in the region to stop making reasons for being idle and seize the many opportunities before them to create and make a decent living job opportunity for others.

He stated: “If you are involved in ‘kpo fire’ (prohibited refineries) you are not involved in good business. You are a murderer pure and simple.

“Niger Delta is too rich for any person to be bad. You need to believe beyond paper qualifications and work for the development of the region. Sixty percent of the small companies that run in America are owned by Individuals and most of them don’t have college degrees.

“Here in Nigeria, we pride ourselves as the most literate set of immigrants. The number of you are governors or own companies or are senators? It’s about time we wake up. Collectively we will alter our narrative, Niger Delta will be the safest place to live and do organization in Nigeria.”

On his part, the Head of Reintegration at the PAP, Alfred Kemepado, applauded the ex-agitators for arranging the programme and interested them to continue to be change representatives.

He said: “The entire essence these days’s event is to reconstruct the frame of mind of the ex-agitators towards constructing a Niger Delta where we can all have it as the very best location to do and live company.

“The message to the Niger Delta youths is that peace remains in their benefit and any type of violence doesn’t pay. It may have short term benefits for the crisis merchants at that particular time but the basic concern we require to ask is where were we before the militancy in 2009 and where are we today? If you take a score you do not require deep research to see it”.

In his remarks, the Rivers State Director of the National Orientation Agency (NOA), Mr. Young AyoTamuno, represented by a Deputy Director, Mr. Edward Amonia Banigo, stated the workshop was prompt in view of the coming basic elections.

He stated: “We wish to commend you for this Programme and we contact all others, other groups like you to also create programs like this. We are here to partner with groups like you to deepen peace in the Niger Delta, in our communities and deepen our National core values. That at the end of the day, the change we prefer we shall see it.

“The 2023 election is around the corner, we have a lovely chance to make that change and one step to achieving that is to make certain you get your PVC. With your PVC we can in harmony put males and females of integrity who will change the narrative of our fatherland”, he stated.