On Thursday, some ex-militants in the Niger Delta area protested the non-payment of their allowances by the amnesty office.

The ex-militants barricaded the Mbiama axis of the East-West Road, thereby delaying and preventing travellers from heading to their destinations.

They reportedly marched out as early as 7a.m., and blocked the road.

Motorists and travellers plying the route were for a long time, stranded as the protesters chanted war songs demanding the payment of their allowances without further delay.

The protesters were led by the Bayelsa State Third Phase Amnesty chairman, Ebi John.

 

John said the amnesty office was insensitive to their plight, adding that the office and the Accountant-General were deliberately delaying their allowances.

He claimed that some of them had earlier gone to Abuja to lodge the same complaint but the Amnesty office attacked them with soldiers.

Although their actions disrupted traffic flow for hours, military patrol vans and two Armoured Personnel Carriers, APCs, driven by soldiers would eventually arrive the scene.

The soldiers reportedly shot into the air several times to disperse the youths from the road.