Ijaw Youths urge Amnesty Coordinator to expedite actions to assist foreign students

Eric Omare

The Ijaw Youths Council (IYC) has urged the Coordinator of the Amnesty Programme Brig.-Gen. Paul Boro to take urgent steps to rescue beneficiaries stranded in foreign educational institutions.

Mr Eric Omare, Spokesman of the IYC made the call in a statement issued in Yenagoa on Wednesday.

Omare noted that the non remittance of tuition fees and stipends to the beneficiaries abroad had put them in dilemma in foreign lands and required urgent attention.

The spokesman noted that the youth group appreciates the commencement of payment of outstanding stipends to beneficiaries of the amnesty programme who are in the country.

He said that IYC believes that the ongoing verification exercise could be expedited with priority given to foreign students who could easily verified from their educational institutions.

“The IYC had expected that upon assumption of office, General Boroh would take urgent and drastic steps to address the condition of students in foreign institutions.

“ They have been subjected to untold hardship and harassment from the institutions and countries where they are studying.

“The IYC leadership, parents and other leaders in the Niger Delta region are still under intense pressure from the foreign students under the amnesty programme.

“We strongly believe that irrespective of the verification exercise going on in the amnesty office, something urgent ought to have been done to address the plight of the foreign students.

“In our view, the foreign students are much easier to verify through the respective institutions where they are studying,” the IYC statement read in part.

Omare urged Boroh to to immediately reach out to the institutions where the students are studying to assure them of the federal government’s commitment to paying the outstanding tuition fees of the students.