FG to train, empower 1,000 Niger Delta ex-militants in cassava factory

The Presidential Amnesty Programme (PAP) said over 1,000 Niger Delta ex-militants are expected to be trained and employed when the Bayelsa State-owned Cassava Processing Factory at Ebedebiri in Sagbama Local Government Area begins full operations.    The Interim Administrator, Presidential Amnesty Programme, Col. Milland Dixon Dikio (rtd), who disclosed this on Friday when he inspected […]

The Presidential Amnesty Programme (PAP) said over 1,000 Niger Delta ex-militants are expected to be trained and employed when the Bayelsa State-owned Cassava Processing Factory at Ebedebiri in Sagbama Local Government Area begins full operations.   

The Interim Administrator, Presidential Amnesty Programme, Col. Milland Dixon Dikio (rtd), who disclosed this on Friday when he inspected the facilities at the factory, said  the 60-metric ton daily cassava processing factory would help in training and employment of PAP delegates on cassava farming and starch processing.  

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Dikio who was represented by his Special Assistant on Projects, Godwin Ekpo, said the idea was in line with PAP’s arrangement of Train-Employ and Mentor (TEM) empowerment strategy.  

He said about 1,000 PAP delegates were expected to be trained in the cassava value chain and employed as out-growers of cassava stems to feed the factory’s operations. 

Dikio said the decision to send ex-agitators to the facility also aligned with the food security focus of PAP’s programme.  

The Project Management Consultant for the facility, Mr. Adebowale Ayoade, described it as the biggest industrial starch plant in Nigeria and the second largest in Sub-Saharan Africa.