The federal government of Nigeria has begin the payments of ex-militants officials,but it is being don with a new approach

The monthly stipend of N65,000 usually paid to

former Niger Delta militants will no longer be
channeled through the leaders of such ex-
militants as it used to be done in the past.
Launching the direct payment exercise in Port
Harcourt, the Rivers State capital yesterday, the
chief of staff in the Office of the Special Adviser
to the President on Niger Delta Affairs and
Coordinator of the Presidential Amnesty
Programme, Colonel Dedis Abel (Rtd), said “The
Amnesty Office took the decision to pay the ex-
agitators directly following reports of complicity
and short-changing of some of them by the
leaders. Reports revealed that some of the ex-
agitators were paid as low as N20,000 out of
the N65,000 which does not conform with the
mandate of the Presidential Amnesty
Programme.
“Henceforth, payment of the monthly stipend
would be made directly to each beneficiary with
focus to eliminate cases of fraud and short-
changing by their leaders. Similarly, this
exercise will enable us to collect biometrics of
beneficiaries and to create Bank Verification
Numbers to enable government to make future
payments through their individual bank
accounts.”