AMNESTY OFFICE UNCOVERS PLAN TO DEFRAUD
BENEFICIARIES
The Presidential Amnesty Office has uncovered
a well-hatched plan to defraud unsuspecting beneficiaries of the amnesty
programme for former agitators in the Niger Delta.
In a disclaimer issued on Saturday by the
Head of Media and Communications, Mr Daniel Alabrah, the Amnesty Office said
the fraudsters send text messages entitled: “Important Amnesty Message” to
beneficiaries and delegates under the programme, claiming that they have been
“designated for the Empowerment Payout Scheme” and directed them to visit a
website: www.nigerdeltaamnestypayout.
The beneficiaries were also requested
to pay N3,000 as processing fee to a designated bank account with the
name, Ferdinand Ikwang, for the eventual payment of the sum of N5,000,000
as “Empowerment Start-Up Grant/Niger Delta Ex-Agitators Bonus Empowerment
Payout.”
The Amnesty Office distanced itself from the
information, saying it did not send such message to any beneficiary or delegate
and that there was no plan to pay them such amount of money now or in future.
It urged beneficiaries to be wary of
scammers, who have been unrelenting in their attempts to reap where they did
not sow.
“There
have been several attempts to defraud beneficiaries using the letterhead of law
firms, some military formations in the Niger Delta as well as fake MOUs. We
always advise beneficiaries and delegates to quickly contact the office for
clarification whenever they receive such information. We have never demanded
money from beneficiaries to process their documents. This time, some smart
persons, using text messages and the website, are trying again to defraud the
former agitators. We state unequivocally that every information on the website www.nigerdeltaamnestypayout.
The office said the appropriate security
agencies have been notified of the development and that they have commenced
investigation.
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