Ohanaeze Ndigbo Youth Council Worldwide, the most powerful Igbo cultural and social organization, has condemned the ongoing attacks on Igbos in Lagos State.
Since the presidential election, Igbos in Lagos have been the target of attacks. Peter Obi of the Labour Party defeated Bola Tinubu, the President-elect of the All Progressives Congress, APC, in his home state of Lagos.
The Igbo group was reacting to the fire at the Akere market, where Igbo traders were the majority. During the incident, which was carried out by suspected political thugs and resulted in the burning of over 200 stores, a security guard died.
Mazi Okwu Nnabuike, the National President of Ohanaeze Youths, said in a statement on Friday that some people, like Femi Fani-Kayode, should be arrested for making statements that incited violence prior to the attack.
Day to day POST reviews that the APC tribal leader had charged the Work Party governorship up-and-comer in Lagos State, Gbadebo Rhodes-Vivour of playing Igbo cards.
Fani-Kayode claims that: How is it possible for a young man with such a distinguished upbringing to be one of those who joined the crowd during the Endsars riots to burn buses?
“How can he be one of those who deserts his own Yoruba people, idolizes hero worshippers like Ojukwu, and plots to give Lagos to the Igbo? Is it possible for an Igbo man to do that for an East Yoruba? Does he know what the Yoruba were subjected to during the recent presidential election in some parts of the east?
“Does he know the number of Igbos who, because they dared to vote for Bola Ahmed Tinubu, a Yoruba man, were killed, tortured, and had their homes set on fire in the east?
“I love the Igbo and believe in a plural society that accepts people of all ethnicities, nationalities, and creeds; however, it is absurd to hand over Lagos to them as a means of compensating them for their problems in the past.
That would be suicidal and absurd, and we will never allow it to become a reality. What happened to Gbadebo Rhodes-Vivour, a young man who was otherwise brilliant and intelligent? What possessed him? Is he in control? Is he in need of deliverance and prayer?”
Ohanaeze described the events as a case of “a witch crying in the night and a baby dying in the morning” when responding to them.
The leading Igbo group stated: The preconditions for the chaos that was unleashed on the Igbo people in Lagos were laid by Fani-Kayode and his ilk. Numerous Igbo people have been attacked in various parts of Lagos, in addition to the market fire.
Additionally, there are reports of Igbo shopkeepers being chased out of their establishments. This is completely uncalled for, unacceptable, and must immediately end.
Ndigbo have endured sufficient injustice in this nation, and it should not continue. Fani-Kayode’s claim that the LP candidate is an advocate for IPOB is unfathomable. This indicates that all of Fani-Kayode’s children from his divorced wife Chinwendu are members of the IPOB.
We are aware that Fani-Kayode is an unlikable individual; He says one thing in the morning and another in the afternoon, and when food is presented to him at night, he changes his mind again.
“However, he ought to leave Ndigbo alone rather than dragging us into his contradictory personality. One of his moonlight tales, his assertion that Tinubu supporters were killed in the South-East during the presidential election, should be discounted.
“During the polls, both local and international observers were present in the South-East and attested to the fact that the South-Easters disappointed bookmakers, including Fani-Kayode, who had prepared the region for a bloodbath. He is enraged at Ndigbo for voting.
“Having said that, we urge Governor Sanwo-Olu and the Federal Government led by President Muhammadu Buhari to protect the Igbo people in Lagos.
Everyone is subject to the law; Because of this, Fani-Kayode and those who pay him should be held accountable for all of the crimes committed against Ndigbo in Lagos. He must undoubtedly be accountable.
“In this country, nobody, and I repeat nobody, can intimidate Ndigbo; No matter who is behind the preparations, there will be resistance to any further attack on Igbos in Lagos.
On March 18, Ndigbo should go out and vote for their preferred candidate.
“May we remind Fani-Kayode and his ethnic jingoists that in 1952, Mallam Umaru Altine, a Fulani man from Sifawa in the Sokoto Caliphate, was elected as the first Mayor of the City of Enugu, the Igbo Nation’s heartland and heartbeat. He remained in charge until 1958.
This further demonstrates that the Igbo are more accommodating than anyone else and are never the country’s problem. Okwu cautioned, “We should not be pushed any further.”