Scores of aggrieved ex-militants from Bayelsa and Delta states on Monday staged a protest over delayed payment of their five-month amnesty stipends by the Federal Government.

For hours, the protesting ex-agitators disrupted traffic on Mbiama-Yenagoa section of the East-West Road, a major expressway linking the South-South with other regions.

Many travellers and other road users were stranded for many hours as motorists, commercial drivers and commuters were stuck in the gridlock caused by the protest.

The ex-militants, who arrived the Mbiama-Yenagoa junction of the road as early as 6am, brandished placards with inscriptions: “Buhari, pay us our stipends”, “Don’t politicise Niger Delta Amnesty” and “Boroh pay us our money”, among others.

Heavily armed soldiers and other security personnel were at the scene of the protest to forestall any breakdown of the law and order.

It took the intervention of the Commander of the Joint Force in the Niger Delta, Operation Delta Safe, Rear Admiral Joseph Okojie, for the former agitators to back track and open the road to traffic.


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