Fidelia Okafor.

Acting-President, Yemi Osinbajo, has said the federal government has plans to engage youths of the Niger – Delta region who are involved in illegal refining of crude oil by employing them in the modular refineries the government will establish in the region.

He disclosed this during a special engagement on Niger-Delta matters held in Port-Harcourt on Tuesday.

Osinbajo said that the government was poised on making sure that the youths of the region stay off violence and crime through engagements that will channel their resourcefulness and energy to productive venture.

He also debunked rumours that the amnesty programme of the federal government has been scraped adding that more resources has been earmarked for the sustenance of the programme in the 2017 budget.

The Acting President further said that there are more provisions for social interventions in the region, stressing that Rivers state had the second highest number of unemployed graduates who were captured through a transparent process in the N-Power project of government which according to him was a demonstration of the federal government’s commitment towards improving the welfare of youths in the region.

He said: “We have talked about those young men and women who are involved in illegal refining of crude oil

“Our approach to that is that we must engage them by establishing modular refineries.so that they can participate in legal refining not illegal refining. And we are committed to making sure that young men and women of the Niger-Delta region are properly engaged.

“We’ll look at the amnesty issues, we’ll make sure that amnesty continues. Some people have been trying to suggest that we have remove the amnesty programme. That’s not true. We have made more provision for amnesty than has ever been made.

“We have made more provision for social intervention. Rivers state has the second largest number of unemployed young graduates who have been employed by the federal government under our N-Power scheme.

“We made sure in that employment process that the young men and women applied online. We did not allow any interference in the process. They were given their appointments and they have already been deployed and they will be working here.

“We are committed to the Niger – Delta to ensuring that the region is improved. Definitely, By the grace of God, a lo of what we are saying, a lot of what we have said we will do, we will do. We definitely will do.

“I want to commend the women. The women are the one who all the time maintain not just agitation but they give succor to all we are trying to do. I want to say that you will see your children prosper. You will see them do well in life.”