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The apex Igbo Socio-cultural Organisation, Ohanaeze Ndigbo Youth Council Worldwide, has issued a warning to those behind the call for the expulsion of Igbos and plans to attack Igbos in Lagos State and other South-West states.
The group warned that any such attack would be met with unimaginable retaliation.
Ohaneze Youths issued the warning following a post from an X user with the moniker Lagospedia, which had called for the forced relocation of Igbo people from the region.
In a statement, the National President of the Council, Mazi Okwu Nnabuike, emphasized that Igbos will not stand by while others plot against them without taking action.
He described the call as coming from unpatriotic citizens who do not wish for peaceful co-existence among Nigerians and warned that any attack on Ndigbo anywhere in the country would have dire consequences.
Okwu, in the statement titled “Enough is Enough,” vowed that Ndigbo would respond proportionately should there be any attack on them anywhere in the country.
The Ohaneze Youth President further stated that the people of the South-East had remained silent for too long, even under the endless provocation of attacks on Igbo people elsewhere in the country, and that their silence should not be mistaken for cowardice.
He called on those behind what he described as dangerous and sinister rhetoric to desist, asserting that Igbos are not second-class citizens in the country.
“We want to unequivocally declare today that Ndigbo are not cowards; our forefathers were not cowards; they were brave, and so are we. We warn those fanning the embers of discord not to mistake the calmness of the lion for weakness; we are not afraid and should not be pushed to the wall by faceless miscreants. Any attack on Ndigbo by anybody will be met with unimaginable retaliation. We are not second-class citizens of this country. No one is more Nigerian than the Igbos,” the release stated.
Mazi Nnabuike explained that for decades, Ndigbo have borne the brunt of every crisis in the country.
“They have paid the price for every upheaval. This is one of the major reasons we decided not to be part of the Hardship Protest or whatever they called it. We knew that the moment we identified with it, they would term it ‘Igbo Protest.’ Yet, the same enemies of Ndigbo, the same people who are lurking for the blood of the Igbo people, are unrelenting,” he stated.
He said that the Council is using this moment to issue a warning to those fanning the call, declaring that “Enough is Enough,” and vowing that any attempt to spill the blood of an Igbo person or destroy their businesses and properties will be met with equal retaliation.
“Those threats will be resisted; henceforth, any attack on any Igbo person anywhere in those aforementioned areas must be met with the utmost seriousness. We are one of the cardinal pillars of this country, so nobody should threaten the Igbo in this country any longer. We call on Ndigbo not to be afraid to reside anywhere of their choice in the country and to conduct their businesses without heeding the baseless threats by those who intend to set the country ablaze,” he further stated.
In light of these developments, the Ohanaeze Youth President tasked security agencies with immediately arresting those who originated what he called “genocidal threats against Ndigbo,” stating that if security agents fail to apprehend the perpetrators and instigators of unrest in Nigeria, Ndigbo will have no choice but to believe that they are part of the plan.
The Youth Council also called on the Federal Government to address the matter by ensuring that the perpetrators are apprehended.
The group’s leader reiterated his call for Ndigbo not to participate in the ongoing protest, maintaining his earlier stance that President Bola Tinubu’s government is on the right track and should be given more time.
“We reiterate our support for President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s government. Once again, we thank him for the South East Development Commission (SEDC), which was supposed to have been in place since after the war to cater to the Reconciliation, Rehabilitation, and Reconstruction mandate.
“We shall continue to advocate for the release of Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, additional states to be on par with other regions, and correct imbalances in appointments to reflect federal character principles,” he concluded.
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