• Middle
Belt ready to accommodate South-East indigenes
Although the
quit notice issued by some northern youths to the Igbo is a threat to national
peace and unity, it was not discussed at the Federal Executive Council (FEC)
meeting yesterday. FEC is the highest decision-making body in the country.
meeting yesterday. FEC is the highest decision-making body in the country.
The Minister
of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed who briefed State House Correspondents
after the meeting which held at the Presidential Villa, Abuja simply responded
with an emphatic “No” when newsmen sought to know whether the ultimatum given
by the groups came up for discussion during the meeting.
He dismissed
the group’s ultimatum and assured that the matter was being handled by the
nation’s security agencies. “The issue of one or two groups issuing a statement
that is capable of destabilising the country, and then being responded to by
another group in another part of the country, did not start today and did not
start yesterday. What l want to assure you is that the security organisations
are very much on top of this matter,” the minister said.
The Nigeria
Police yesterday refused to issue an official statement on the issue. When The
Guardian contacted the Force Public Relations Officer (FPRO), Jimoh Moshood via
his mobile phone, he said he would call the reporter back. But when contacted
again, he refused to pick his call.
But the
Kaduna State Governor Mallam Nasir El-Rufai has ordered the arrest of the
leaders of the 16 northern groups that gave the Igbo living in their states the
ultimatum to vacate their region.At an emergency meeting in Kaduna on Tuesday,
the groups ordered all Igbo residing in the north to leave the region before or
on October 1, 2017 over their struggle to actualise Biafra Republic.
If the
crisis, which is a fallout of mutual distrust among the ethnic groups is not
well managed, it could lead to the disintegration of the country.Governor
El-Rufai, who spoke through his Senior Special Assistant on Media and
Publicity, Samuel Aruwan, condemned the quit notice issued by those he described
as “self-appointed northern youths.”
Addressing
pressmen at the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) Secretariat in Kaduna,
Aruwan said “ the Kaduna State government takes exception to the fact that the
‘northern youths’ did their irresponsible press conference in Kaduna and Kaduna
State has been consistent in taking action to punish hate speech and
incitement.”
He assured
every resident of Kaduna that their constitutional and human rights to live
peacefully and own property wherever they choose would be protected. He said
they should ignore the threat.“We will not tolerate such irresponsible
statements and conduct in our state. The statement issued by the ‘northern
youths’ violates the laws of Kaduna State and the government has directed its
Ministry of Justice to prepare charges and prosecute the signatories and anyone
complicit in arranging this egregious assault on the rights of fellow citizens.
“Preparatory
to prosecution, the police have been directed to immediately arrest,
interrogate the signatories to the statement and investigate all the
circumstances and persons that may be implicated in the matter.”
The
President General of Igbo Community in Kaduna, Chris Nnoli urged the Igbo
residing in the north to remain calm and go about their business without any
panic.“ I am aware they ordered that Igbo should vacate the north but our stand
is that Igbo wherever they are should remain calm and continue to be
law-abiding citizens,” he said.
But in its
reaction, the Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF) said the quit notice was a result
of frustration from the agitation for the Republic of Biafra.In a statement
issued at the end of an emergency meeting in Kaduna yesterday, the northern
leaders said:
“This
position of the groups was a result of the persistent agitations of some
members of the Movement for the Actualisation of the Sovereign State of Biafra
(MASSOB) and the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) for the actualisation of
the Republic of Biafra, which have continued to threaten the unity, peace and
corporate existence of Nigeria”.
The National
Publicity Secretary of ACF, Alhaji Muhammad Biu, in the statement, noted: “ACF
appreciates the frustrations of the northern youth groups with the activities
of MASSOB and IPOB members, but would not encourage any act that is not in
conformity with the law by any group or individuals which will do no one any
good.
“ACF
therefore, appeals for caution over unguarded utterances or statements that are
capable of jeopardizing the unity, peace and corporate existence of Nigeria.”
Former Vice
President, Atiku Abubakar faulted the ultimatum.In a statement, he described
the development as not only provocative, reckless and thoughtless, but a grave
threat to national security and the peaceful coexistence of Nigerians.
Atiku said
he was alarmed by the latest dangerous outbursts, warning that it would not
augur well for the north and the country at large. He added that for a country
facing threats of disunity, such ultimatum and counter rhetoric at this time
are most irresponsible and callous since they are capable of setting off a
chain of ugly events nobody could control.
Meanwhile,
the Middle Belt Youth Council yesterday offered to accommodate Igbo sent away
from northern states . In a statement, the group said: “In the light of
incessant threats to one Nigeria posed by killer-herdsmen, we call on good
people of Middle Belt to first of all support the Anti-grazing Bill. Grazing by
Fulani herdsmen on our land has become the major cause of conflicts in our
region, therefore, we’re calling for total ban on open grazing so as to save
the lives of our people and their farmlands.
“It is no
longer news that our country Nigeria is facing a daunting challenge of peace
and unity but we want to assure the good citizens of Nigeria that we have been
a peace-loving people and we’ll continue to be. But, in an event one part of
the country decides to go away as a separate entity, Middle Belt is also ready
to make an independent statement.
“We want to
clarify for those who think that the Middle Belt is part of the north: God
created everywhere and everyone and He gave it to whom He chooses and Middle
Belt is a creation of God and not man (Usman dan Fodio). Therefore, we choose
what to use our land for, how to run it and where we want to be. Middle Belt
has been a home for the Ohanaeze Ndigbo, south-south and the south-west without
any form of discrimination against anyone. We’ve accommodated every Nigerian
for centuries now. We deserve respect and commendations.
“If the
Arewa youths are sending away Igbo from their states, we in the Middle Belt are
ready to offer them accommodation in our land (which is an inheritance from God
and nobody will take it away from us) for them to continue with their life and
businesses.
“Southern
Nigeria people should also know that ‘Middle Belters’ are not northerners and
we can never be because we’re not affiliated in terms of culture, language,
education, economy, and general lifestyle.
“The Biafran
struggle did not come as an accident but as a result of injustice and unfair
treatment to regions, people or religion. Over the years, our federalism has
been a fat lie that deprives political rights and freedom of some sections of
the country while others benefit immensely from it. Middle Belt has been at the
receiving end of this inequitable arrangement in which our people in Southern
Kaduna, Southern Bauchi, Southern Borno, Southern Kebbi, Adamawa are under
constant alienation and annihilation.“Therefore, Middle Belt strongly stands
for reconstruction of Nigeria not only restructuring. We’ll join hands with
Southern Nigerian people to actualize it.”
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