South-east lawmakers ask security agencies to arrest #IgboMustGo campaigners

Senators and House of Representatives members from the South-eastern states have called on the Nigeria Police Force and other security agencies to arrest social media handlers circulating the #IgboMustGo, online with the Cybercrime Act.

Leader of the South-east Caucus in the Senate, Enyinnaya Abaribe, and his counterpart in the House, Igariwey Enwo, made the call in a statement jointly signed on Friday, on behalf of the entire federal lawmakers from the South-eastern states.

The #IgboMustGo is a social media campaign for the forced relocation of Igbo people from Lagos and other South-west states of the country within one month.

It gained traction on social media since the beginning of the 10’day #EndBadGovernanance nationwide protest, which commenced on 1 August.

Reacting to the social media campaign,
the lawmakers said such a campaign was what degenerated into a civil war that claimed the lives of millions of Nigerians.

They also gave instances of the genocide in Rwanda and the xenophobia in South Africa.

The federal lawmakers however urged security agencies to begin the arrest of social media handlers spreading the forced relocation of Igbo people from the South-west states.

“This dangerous ethnic profiling is unwarranted and must stop. It was such profiling that led to the millions of deaths in Nigeria from the 1950s to the unfortunate civil war in 1967 to 1970. Elsewhere in Africa, it led to the genocide in Rwanda and xenophobia in South Africa.

“Such should not be our fate again in Nigeria.
We demand, therefore, that the security agencies bring to book the purveyors of these hate speeches in line with the Cybercrimes Act and criminal laws of the country,” they demanded.

The lawmakers, however, appealed to the Igbo people to stay away from the protests and remain law-abiding.

“We continue to appeal to Igbos across the country to stay away from the protests, and remain law-abiding.”

Why Igbos stayed away from protest

The lawmakers reiterated that there were no protest on the #EndBadGovernanance in the South-eastern states because leaders of the Igbo descendant, governors and lawmakers agreed not to partake in the protest.

“The attention of the South-east Caucus of the National Assembly has been drawn to the unfortunate and dangerous ethnic profiling of Igbos in the ongoing mass protests across the country.

“For the records, the Igbo nation, in obedience to the advice of their leaders – Governors, Ohaneze Ndigbo Worldwide, parliamentarians and others in the private sector- had taken a reasoned and strategic decision not to participate in the ongoing nationwide protests. This is evident in the relative calm experienced in the five South-eastern states.

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“We are, therefore, surprised and disappointed that Igbos are still made scapegoats and targeted as instigators of protests, as shown in several statements (such as the Igbo Must Go hashtag and call by a certain ‘Lagospedia’ X(Twitter) handle) and videos seen online.”

It would be recalled that there were threats and intimidation meted out against the Igbos in Lagos during and after the 2023 presidential election.