Fraud allegation: Ex-agitators’ leader apologises to Amnesty office

14 Feb 2020, 09:12 by Lawal Sherifat

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Says I was misquoted

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By Chris Ochayi – Abuja

The leader of the Phase 2 Amnesty Program, Comrade Steven Ebisintei has refuted a publication where he was quoted to have alleged fraud against Ali Bozi Tamaratare, Richard Turner and some members of the legal department of Presidential Amnesty Program Office.

In a press release he signed and made available to journalists in Abuja, Comrade Ebisintei said he was quoted out of context and thus regretted the injury the said publication must have caused Messrs Tamaratare, Turner and some members of the legal department of Presidential Amnesty Program.

“I granted an interview to one Mr. Aloude, a freelance journalist and made available some court documents in respect of a pending case at the Federal High Court, Yenagoa, Bayelsa State.

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“I am aware that the aforesaid interview and the court documents I supplied led to the publication of a story with the above-headed caption and the same was published on some online news site, which went viral.

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“In the said story, I was alleged to have stated that Ali Bozi Tamaratare, Richard Turner, claimant’s counsel and some members of staff of the legal department of the Presidential Amnesty Programme had conspired to defraud the federal government. I state categorically that I was misquoted by the immediate publishers of the story and I hereby state that all the allegations leveled against Ali Bozi Tamaratare, Richard Turner and some undisclosed members of the legal department of the Presidential Amnesty Programme are false.

“I hereby tender my unreserved apology to Messrs Tamarantare, Turner and the undisclosed members of the legal department for the said publication of November 4. 2019 and the injury the same may have caused.

“This publication is made solely to state that the facts published on the said date are products of a misquote and are false. They are thus refuted,” Comrade Ebisintei said.