• Northern youth leaders defy el-Rufai, meet again
• Defend yourselves, Ohanaeze youth wing tells Igbo
in North
The police on Wednesday said they had deployed
detectives to arrest northern youths, who ordered Igbo to quit the North before
October 1, 2017.
The groups had, on Tuesday, issued a three-month
ultimatum to people of Igbo extraction, resident in the 19 states in the North,
to leave the North or be forced out before October 1, 2017.
A prepared text of a press conference addressed by
the groups was signed by the leaders of the various groups.
READ: With N44trn investment in North, Igbo can’t be
driven out –Ohanaeze youths
Those who signed the groups’ statement are Nastura
Sharif (Arewa Citizens Action for Change); Amb. ShettimaYerima (Arewa Youth
Consultative Forum); Aminu Adam (Arewa Youth Development Foundation); Alfred
Solomon (Arewa Students Forum);
Abdul-Azeez Suleiman (Northern Emancipation
Network) as well as Joshua Viashman (Northern Youth Vanguard).
“We are also telling our brothers (northerners) out
there in the South-East to get prepared to come back home,” Yerima had said.
The National President of the Northern Emancipation
Network, Abdul-Azeez Suleiman, who read the text of the press conference,
alleged that the Igbo had become a threat to the unity of the country.
The Kaduna State Police spokesman, Aliyu Usman,
disclosed this in a telephone interview with one of our correspondents, just as
the Force Headquarters said it had directed police formations across the
country to beef up security.
Usman stated that police took the decision to arrest
the youths before the Kaduna State Governor, Nasir el-Rufai, issued the
directive that the men should be arrested.
“We have already deployed our men to arrest the
members of the groups that issued the ultimatum; we are working to apprehend
them as part of our investigation into the declaration,” he stated on
Wednesday.
Curiously, while the police said they had sent
detectives to arrest the youth, members of the groups that issued the ultimatum
were holding another meeting in Kaduna on Wednesday.
When contacted at 7.32pm on Wednesday, the National
President of the Arewa Youth Consultative Forum, Yerima Shettima, said members
of the groups were meeting.
When asked to comment on the order by el-Rufai that
the youth should be arrested, Shettima said, “Please, we are meeting now on the
matter. When we finish, we shall let you know the outcome of our meeting. I
will get back to you once we end our meeting please.”
On its part, the Force Headquarters said it had
beefed up security nationwide and deployed more operatives in major cities to
forestall a breakdown of law and order.
The Force Public Relations Officer, Jimoh Moshood,
said the Inspector-General of Police, Ibrahim Idris, had also directed command
Commissioners of Police and Assistant IGPs in charge of zonal formations to
ensure enforcement of the law in their jurisdictions.
Moshood said, “Before now, we had beefed up security
across the country, and we are increasing deployment and patrol across major
cities to ensure law and order not only in the North, but in every part of the
country, we are improving on that.
“The IG has directed all commissioners of police and
AIGs in charge of zones to ensure absolute enforcement of law and order and
protection of lives and property.”
Asked if the police would arrest the members of the
group behind the anti-Igbo declaration, Moshood claimed that he had not “seen”
the ultimatum, more than 24 hours after the threat was reported by the media.
“I have not seen any ultimatum. It’s only in the
media and the police will not be mixed up in politics. We are to ensure law and
order, which is what we are doing.
Anybody who now comes out to threaten the lives of others, the law will
take its course,” he stated.
El-Rufai orders arrest, prosecution of masterminds
Earlier on Wednesday, el-Rufai had ordered the
immediate arrest and prosecution of the leaders of northern coalition groups
that threatened the safety and property of citizens of Igbo extraction in the
region on Tuesday.
El-Rufai, through his Senior Special Assistant on
Media and Publicity, Mr. Samuel Aruwan, at a press conference in the state
capital, ordered the police to immediately fish out those behind the threat
statement as well as their sponsors for immediate prosecution.
He stated that the representatives of the groups had
violated the law of the state by issuing such threats within the state, saying
they would not be spared.
READ ALSO: We support Arewa youths’ ultimatum to
Ndigbo – MASSOB
He said, “The Kaduna State Government strongly
condemns the inciting, hate speech delivered by some self-appointed ‘northern
youths’ seeking to target and violate the rights of our citizens of Igbo
extraction.
“The Kaduna State Government urges all residents to
ignore the threats from the ‘northern youths’.
“We are in contact with the leadership of the Igbo
community in Kaduna and we are delighted to say that this community, like all
our other communities, believes in the strength of the constitutional order to
protect all citizens.
“The Kaduna State Government takes exception to the
fact that the ‘northern youths’ held their irresponsible press conference in
Kaduna.
“The Kaduna State Government condemns in the
strongest terms the press statement by some self-appointed “northern youths”
that threatened the safety and property of our citizens of Igbo extraction.”
El-Rufai mandated the state Ministry of Justice to
commence the process of prosecuting the signatories to the said press statement
as well as their sponsors.
“Preparatory to prosecution, the police have been
directed to immediately arrest and interrogate the signatories to the statement
and investigate all the circumstances and persons that may be implicated in the
matter.”
Buhari backs el-Rufai for the arrest of youth
leaders
Also, President Muhammadu Buhari commended el-Rufai
for ordering the arrest of leaders of the Coalition of Northern Youths, who
asked Igbo to leave the northern part of the country within three months.
The Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai
Mohammed, made the President’s position known through his twitter handle,
@MohammedLai, where he wrote: “President Buhari commends the Kaduna State
Government for arresting those miscreants jobless youths.
“The Buhari Administration vehemently condemns such
a wicked plan by faceless northern youths to evict Igbos from the North. This
is their country na.”
Security agencies on red alert over ultimatum –FG
Meanwhile, the Federal Government, on Wednesday,
said security agencies were already on the alert over the threat statement by
some people claiming to be northern youths.
The Minister of Information and Culture, Mohammed,
said this while answering questions from State House correspondents after the
weekly meeting of the Federal Executive Council at the Presidential Villa,
Abuja.
Mohammed assured Nigerians that security agencies
were on top of the matter, adding that the statement was capable of
destabilising the country.
He stated, “The issue of one or two groups issuing
statements that are capable of destabilising the polity and being responded to
by another group, I think, did not just start today or did not start yesterday.
“What I want to assure you is that security
organisations are very, very much on top of this matter.”
When asked whether the issue of the ultimatum came
up for discussion during the FEC meeting, the minister said it did not come up.
Disregard ultimatum, interior minister tells
Nigerians
Also, the Minister of Interior, Lt. Gen. Abdulrahman
Dambazau (retd.), in his reaction, asked Nigerians to discountenance the
statement by the northern youths, stating that citizens were free to live
anywhere they like.
He said in a statement that the government would
punish any individual or group violating the rights of other citizens.
“The minister called on all well-meaning Nigerians
to go about their normal activities as government would bring to bear the full
weight of the law on any individual or group violating the rights of citizens
of the country,” Dambazau said in the statement by his Press Secretary,
Ehisienmen Osaigbovo.
Northern govs, ACF, Afenifere, others condemn
statement, demand arrest
Also, governors of the 19 northern states, on
Wednesday, disowned the groups that issued ultimatum to Igbo to vacate the
northern part of Nigeria within three months or be forced to leave.
Specifically, the governors called on security
agencies to arrest the youth leaders and probe the motive behind the call.
The NSGF said the call by the youths was a
suspicious act that fell in line with recent trend of arms catch, coup rumour,
which might not be a mere coincidence.
The Borno State Governor and Chairman of the Northern
States Governors’ Forum, Kashim Shettima, spoke on behalf of his colleagues in
Maiduguri.
The governors said they had taken measures that
would guarantee the rights of all Nigerians to live in the 19 states in the
geo-political zones within the North.
The NSGF stated, “On behalf of the governors of the
19 northern states, we totally condemn such irresponsible pronouncements by
those groups; we condemn, we disown and we are totally distancing ourselves
from those faceless groups, who don’t have the mandate of the people of
northern Nigeria to make such loud pronouncements.
“We wish to call on the security agencies to beam
their lenses on these groups, and unearth the faces behind the mask. Some
months back, there were cases of importation of arms, illegal importation of
arms intercepted at the ports; then, we started hearing rumours of a coup
d’etat.
“Now, a group, or a bunch of groups that do not have
the mandate of the people came up with remarks capable of destabilising the
North and the country as a whole.
“We are one nation tied to a common destiny. The
governors of northern Nigeria are not in alignment with those pronouncements,
and we will take whatever measures that are necessary to safeguard the lives
and properties of Nigerians living in any part of the North.
‘‘I am in contact with most of my colleagues, and
they are all talking to heads of security establishments in their respective
domains because we cannot afford to take chances.”
In its own reaction, the umbrella body for the
North, the Arewa Consultative Forum, and the Sarkin Fulani Nasarawa, Senator
Walid Jibrin, condemned in strong terms the ultimatum which, according to the
coalition would expire on October 1, 2017.
The National Publicity Secretary of the ACF, Alhaji
Muhammadu Ibrahim, in a statement, distanced the Forum from the ultimatum.
He noted that democracy guaranteed the freedom of
movement of all citizens to all parts of the country in pursuit of their
legitimate business devoid of hindrances from any individual or groups.
The ACF said it appreciated the frustrations of the
Indigenous People of Biafra, MASSOB and the Northern Youth Groups, but said it
would not encourage any act that was not in conformity with the law by any
group or individuals which would do no one any good.
The ACF then appealed for caution over unguarded
utterances or statements that were capable of jeopardising the unity, peace and
corporate existence of Nigeria.
Jibrin, who is also the Chairman, Board of Trustees
of the Peoples Democratic Party, condemned the action of the youths, noting
that all Nigerians, irrespective of their tribes, had the right to live in any
part of the country.
Saying he was not speaking for the PDP, he added
that the Igbos were broad-minded people, who had, over the years, helped to
develop the economy of the North.
He described as unacceptable any move, asking the
Igbo to leave the region.
Jibrin said, “Our past experiences of Biafran war
will never allow any northerner or Igbo man to pray for the bad experiences of
the Biafran war.
“I want to remind the group calling for Igbos to
leave the North that there are equally many northerners living comfortably
anywhere in the South-Eastern Nigeria and who have well established businesses
in the Igboland.”
Meanwhile, the Yoruba socio-political group,
Afenifere, has condemned the statement attributed to the northern youths, describing
it as wrong-headed.
The group’s spokesman, Yinka Odumakin, said the
youth had further stoked the tension in the country with their thoughtless
declaration, noting that the security agencies should arrest them.
He said, “Look at the fragile unity in the country,
the tension in the land and for a group of youths to gather in Arewa House and
make this declaration is uncalled for. I expect elders in the North to rein
them in and for them to withdraw the ultimatum.
“This is why Afenifere has been canvassing for the
restructuring of Nigeria because many constituent units in the country are not
happy with the way Nigeria is today and the best approach is a negotiated
settlement on the terms of our unity.”
Threats by youths reckless, provocative, says Atiku
Also, Vice-President Atiku Abubakar said the
ultimatum issued by the northern youth coalition to the Igbo and the response
by a South-East group were not only provocative, reckless and thoughtless, but
also a grave threat to national security and peaceful coexistence.
Atiku said
this in a statement by his Media Office in Abuja on Wednesday.
The former Vice-President, who is also a chieftain
of the All Progressives Congress, said he was alarmed by the latest dangerous
outburst, warning that it did not augur well for the North and the country at
large.
“Atiku Abubakar calls for restraint on all sides by
the youth groups to pave the way for meaningful dialogue on how to restructure
our country for the good of all.
“Our country is too precious; our problems are too
pressing to pander to divisive rhetoric,” he stated.
Prepare to defend yourselves, Ohanaeze youth wing
tells Igbo in North
Meanwhile, the Ohanaeze Ndigbo Youth Council, the
youth wing of Ohanaeze Ndigbo, on Wednesday, told Igbo living in the North to
prepare to defend themselves against possible attack by northerners.
Addressing journalists after a meeting in Enugu,
National President of the OYC, Mazi Okechukwu Isiguzoro, said the ultimatum
issued to Igbo by the northern groups was a call to arms, and should be treated
as such by security agencies.
“Igbo resident in the North should get ready to
defend themselves in the event of any provocation and attack from the Arewa
youths,” Isiguzoro said.
He noted that the development could lead to another
civil war in the country.
The Ohanaeze youth leader said, “They are at it
again and this is a sad reminder of the civil war. This is how it started as a
joke and before we knew it, a coordinated and simultaneous attack was launched
against the Igbo in the North.
“This is a sad development considering the efforts
being made to unite this country. This is a sad commentary considering the
sacrifices Igbos have made in this country.
“We, however, wish to state unequivocally that the
Igbo are not cowards. We are not afraid of Alhaji Abdul-Azeez Suleiman, Yerima
Shettima and their cohorts.
“Ndigbo want to make it categorically clear that we
are ready for them. We cannot be intimidated by their ranting.”
Also, the Eric Omare-led faction of the Ijaw Youth
Council Worldwide described the threat by northern youths as baseless and
senseless.
Omara, in a statement on Wednesday, contended that
there was absolutely nothing wrong in the Igbo agitation for
self-determination.
The factional IYC President added, ‘’Therefore, the
Igbo agitation for Biafra cannot justify the demand to move out of northern
Nigeria.
‘’We believe there are criminally-minded persons who
want to hide under the umbrella of speaking for the North to loot property
belonging to Igbos in the North that are making the demand.
‘’We call on security agencies to as a matter of
urgency move against the brains behind the ultimatum to Igbos in the North.
But a group of Nigerians, under the auspices of the
South-East/South-South.
Network, asked security agencies to immediately
arrest the leaders of the northern groups, who issued the ultimatum to the Igbo
on Tuesday.
In an electronic mail sent to one of our
correspondents by the leader of the SESSNet, Mr. Daniel Elombah, who said the
group was made up of professionals, students and activists from the South-East
and South-South, called on security agencies to arrest “these jobless youths
and their sponsors.”
It added, “We will not take excuse from security
agencies if anything happens to our people in the North. Those youths should be
treated like criminals by security agencies and we are watching to see what the
DSS will do on this matter. If any Igbo is killed in the North, the leadership
of the groups should face the consequences.”
In its own reaction, the Pan Niger Delta Forum, an
umbrella body for Niger Delta leaders, condemned in strong terms the ultimatum
of the Arewa youth groups.
It noted that the “quit notice” was highly
treasonable and portended great threat to the nation’s unity.
PANDEF which is under the leadership of Ijaw
national leader, Chief Edwin Clark, said the group considered the statement by
the Arewa youths as the most dangerous statement ever made by any group to the
unity and existence of Nigeria since the end of the Civil War.
In a statement on behalf of the group by a member of
the Central Working Committee, Dr. Alfred Mulade, PANDEF called on northern
state governments, elders, particularly the Arewa Consultative Forum to take
concrete steps to reassure the safety of Igbo in the region.
Leave the North, MASSOB tells Igbo
In its own view, however, the Movement for
Actualisation for the Sovereign State of Biafra said it gave “100 per cent
support” to the threat issued by the northern youth groups.
Reacting to the threat, MASSOB leader, Uchenna Madu,
said the pro-Biafran agitators were aware that the “notice to quit” would come,
alleging that northern leaders sponsored their youths to threaten Igbo having
seen that Biafra was a reality.
The statement added, “As a matter of facts, this is
the only rascality exhibited by sponsored Arewa youths to forcefully exit the
people of Biafra residing in Arewa land that MASSOB will hundred percent
support.”
Take threat seriously, VC urges FG
In his own reaction, the Vice-Chancellor of the
Kwara State University, Malete, Prof.
AbdulRasheed Na’Allah, urged the Federal Government
and security agencies to take seriously the threat against the Igbo in the
North.
He urged the government to nib the crisis in the bud
and forestall another violence that could lead to the destruction of human
lives and property.
Speaking during KWASU’s 5th convocation media conference in Malete,
Moro Local Government Area of Kwara State, the VC cautioned the northern
groups, the Indigenous People of Biafra and the Movement for the Sovereign
State of Biafra against acts that could plunge the nation into another civil
war.
He said, “We should take the lessons of the war,
become tolerant of each other, true brothers of one another; and do great
things that will see that never again
will Nigeria go back to that calamity. It was a
calamity. It shows that we have not learnt good things from the experience.”
Copyright PUNCH.
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