Boyloaf: Kuku Denies Complicity in Aide’s Arrest

Hon. Kingsley Kuku

By Chiemelie Ezeobi

The Chairman, Presidential Amnesty Programme (PAP), Hon. Kingsley Kuku, today denied complicity in the interrogation of former frontline ex-militant, Ebikabowei Victor-Ben, popularly known as Boyloaf and the arrest of his aide by policemen.

Kuku was reacting to last Sunday’s media report fingering him in the arrest of Boyloaf’s aide and the subsequent invitation by the Special Anti Robbery Squad (SARS).

In a statement issued by the Head, Media and Communications, Mr. Daniel Alabrah, and made available to THISDAY, the Amnesty Office said the incident that led to the arrest was misrepresented in some reports, which purported that Kuku, was involved in an altercation with Boyloaf at the Lagos airport.

The statement reads in part; “Presidential Amnesty Office deems it necessary to clarify reports in a section of the media concerning last Sunday’s arrest and detention of one of the leaders of the former agitators in the Niger Delta, Ebikabowei Victor-Ben (aka Boyloaf) and one other person over an incident at the arrival lounge of the domestic terminal of the Murtala Muhammed Airport in Lagos.

“The fact is that Kuku was nowhere near the airport at the time his Special Assistant (Special Duties), Mr. Henry Ugbolue, was attacked by Boyloaf and two others, which led to their arrest and detention by the police.

“For purposes of clarity, the unprovoked assault on Ugbolue had nothing to do with Kuku or the amnesty programme. The facts about the incident have been documented by men of the Nigeria Police at the Lagos State Command, Ikeja, where Boyloaf signed an undertaking before he was released on Sunday.”

Kuku condemned insinuations that he was using the Inspector-General of Police to derail the amnesty programme, adding that they have no reason to be afraid if they do not breach the laws of the country.

He said, “Nobody can hide under a presumed protection of amnesty to commit crime and expect to be shielded. The amnesty programme is about rehabilitating and reintegrating an approved number of persons into normal society and not to shield them when they decide to commit crime.”