In 2009, after over three years of intensive militancy activities and violence in the Niger Delta which saw the nation’s oil production capacity drop to an all-time low, President Yar’Adua declared the Presidential Amnesty Programme. The programme provided amnesty from prosecution for ex-militants in return for the surrender of arms, and ongoing financial incentives to maintain peace. As the Program is due to draw to an end in 2015, this briefing provides an overview of the Programme’s history, and recommendations for conflict prevention in its aftermath.
