Muhammad Bello
Port Harcourt — About 26 ex-militants at rehabilitation center located at the Social Development Institute (SDI) in Okeyi, Etche Local Government Area of Rivers State yesterday held a staff of the institute hostage over what they described as unfair treatment by their host.
The repentant militants took Mr Nimi Amachree, a coordinator of commerce and business at the SDI, several kilometers from the SDI village to the premises of Rhythm 93.7 located at the Old GRA, Port Harcourt, where they asked him to grant an interview to the station stating their grievances. They met Mr Segun Owolabi, the News Editor of the radio station who tried to dissuade them from pressurising Mr Amachree to go on air against his wish. Mr Owolabi who spoke with our correspondent on phone said, " I told them to let him go, that it was not proper for them to force him to grant any interview against his wish".
At the time of filing this report, the ex-militants who besieged the radio station were still there holding unto their hostage and refusing to heed the editor's counsel. When our reporter visited the station they insisted that they wanted the whole world to know about their plight at the institute.
The ex-militants said they were being short changed by the officials.
The institute set up on the recommendation of a former security chief in the country, Chief Albert Horsfall, graduated scores of ex-militants at the end of September this year.
This is the second incident involving ex-militants in less than a week. Last week, repentant militants camped at a school in Aluu near University of Port Harcourt were said to have been raping and terrorising female students of the university.
The state governor had reacted by saying it would not tolerate such and would prosecute anyone found guilty.
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