A dispute over cash caused former militants to take over parts of the Bayelsa State government secretariat on Monday to protest what they called their abandonment by their erstwhile leader, known by the alias of General Boyloaf.

The protesters said Mr. Boyloaf had pocketed for himself all the cash given by government to pacify militant activity in the area. They said they had each been promised N10 million in "disarmament allowance."

Banking and other commercial activities were temporarily halted in Yenagoa, the state capital.

The former warlords, chanting war songs, called for the heads of their various leaders, whom they blamed for being insensitive to their plight. Mr. Boyloaf, the former commander of the Bayelsa State wing of the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND), was one of the major militants who met with presidency officials recently in Abuja.

Even though a similar protest was held last Friday, the repentant militants this time were more daring as they carried the protest to the Government House, leaving a trail of broken bottles and ruffled nerves in their wake.

Officials of the military Joint Task Force watched the men, but did not intervene while the rioting lasted. But policemen drafted to the scene managed to pacify the men and eventually disperse them.

Officials of the Bayelsa State government were not amused. If anything, the riot has shown up the politicisation of the amnesty efforts by top politicians in the state, as the state government is accusing the Honorary Special Adviser to the President on Niger Delta, Timi Alaibe, of sabotaging the amnesty programmes in the state.

Mr Alaibe, the former Managing Director of the Niger Delta Development Corporation(NDDC), however, said the state officials merely embarked on a propaganda war against him. Mr Alaibe, who was also leading another amnesty project, was accused of politicizing the programme at the detriment of the people in the state, most especially the collection of arms surrendered to him by a militant leader,Young Shall Grow, in Asusuama at the weekend.

The Secretary to the Bayelsa State Government, Gideon Ekeuwei said most of the boys that took part in the protest that paralysed economic and commercial activities on Monday were the products of the disarmament that took place outside the state capital.

Accusation of infiltration

He accused Mr. Alaibe of going to Asusuama last Friday without informing the state government as well as any of the security agents in the state. He said the same set of boys that Mr. Alaibe claimed to have been disarmed were incited against the government.

"This is nothing but a slight on the part of the government," he said. "Why all this infiltration, all in the name of politics? Why gambling with the lives of the people. Whoever went to Asusuama knows whom he has gone there to represent." Young Shall Grow, along with over 350 members of his group, at the weekend in Asusuama, Southern Ijaw local government area of the state, surrendered their arms to Mr. Alaibe; but the Mr Ekeuwei said the government has no record of such arms and ammunition. He said he was surprised to learn that the arms collected by Mr Alaibe were taken to Elele, in Rivers state.

When NEXT contacted Mr. Alaibe for his reaction, he sent a three word text message: "Stupid political distraction."

However, even though Mr Ekeuwei claimed that the protest was politically motivated, the protesters blamed the government and their leaders for reneging on their promises, most especially the payment of N10m disarmament allowance.

The ex-militants said if their grievances were not looked into, they would make the state ungovernable for the government.

Similar protest took place last Friday, before the Asusuama disarmament, where over 200 youth took to the streets demanding for the N10m allowance they said was promised by their leader before they agreed to disarm.

Hope the Guns are okay for the Cash