Former Niger Delta militant leader, Pastor Reuben Wilson, has denied diverting N150m amnesty funds meant for some former ex-agitators.
Some former militants had last Wednesday accused Wilson, whom they described as the Bayelsa State Coordinator, of allegedly diverting the money meant for their empowerment to his private accounts.
They had through a petition by their lawyers, Olu Olujoh & Co., addressed to President Goodluck Jonathan, accused Wilson of squandering “all the money the Federal Government paid through him” to settle them.
The ex-militants also claimed that Wilson was fond of paying them what he liked instead of the money approved by the government.
But Wilson, who has denied the allegation, wondered why the ex-militants should arrogate a function not within his purview to him.
Wilson, through a letter by his counsel, C.T. Olorogun & Co. to the former militants’ lawyers, Olu Olujoh & Co, said the Federal Government Amnesty Office “does not deal with ex-agitators through him.”
Olorogun, who stated that Wilson was not a member of the board of Federal Government Amnesty Programme, said he was not the appointed coordinator from the Amnesty Office that deals with Bayelsa ex-militants.
He said, “The cordial relationship, which my client enjoys with the Chairman of the Amnesty Programme, is personal and not official.
“The FG did not pay the housing allowances of former agitators (both leaders and members of camp) in Bayelsa to Wilson for disbursement to beneficiaries.
“The FG has accounting section that is saddled with the responsibility of such payments. Usually, a payment to ex-militants is through bank as they all submitted their bank details at the point of enlistment into the programme.
“Our client is not aware of the amount that was approved as housing allowance for each of the ex-militants. The amount approved and paid to each of them can be verified from the Amnesty Office.”
He said it was absurd to suggest that Wilson converted part of the money meant for them to his personal use, stressing that it was a cheap campaign of calumny to suggest that Wilson defrauded ex-militants of their entitlements.
Against that backdrop, Olorogun demanded N100m for damages suffered by Wilson and also an apology to be published by his accusers in four national dailies and four local papers circulating in the Niger Delta.