Ohanaeze Ndigbo Youth Council International, the apex Igbo socio-cultural organisation, has called the ongoing assaults on Igbos living in Lagos State intolerable.
After the presidential election, Igbos in Lagos have continued to be attacked. Bola Tinubu of the All Progressives Congress, or APC, was defeated by Peter Obi of the Labour Party in his home state of Lagos.
The Igbo gang was responding to the arson on the Igbo-dominated Akere market. Almost 200 stores were set on fire during the alleged political thugs’ attack, which also resulted in the death of a security guard.
The National President of Ohanaeze Youths, Mazi Okwu Nnabuike, stated in a statement on Friday that Femi Fani-Kayode and other others should be arrested for making inciting remarks before to the attack.
The leader of the APC alleged that Gbadebo Rhodes-Vivour, the Labour Party’s nominee for governor of Lagos State, was using Igbo cards.
“How can such a well-bred & distinguished young guy be one of those that joined the crowd to burn buses during the Endsars riots,” claims Fani-Kayode.
“How can he be one of those who betrays his own Yoruba people, idolises secessionists like Ojukwu, and plots to give Lagos to the Igbo? Can any Igbo man in the East do it for a Yoruba? Is he aware of the treatment the Yoruba received during the just ended presidential election in some regions of the east?
Does he realise how many Igbo people were murdered, subjected to torture, and had their homes set on fire in the east solely for daring to support the Yoruba candidate Bola Ahmed Tinubu?
“I adore the Igbo and I believe in a diverse society that accepts all ethnic nationalities & creeds, but it is ludicrous to give them control of Lagos as restitution for their ills of the past.
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“It would be ridiculous and suicidal, and we would NEVER let it to happen. What happened to Gbadebo Rhodes-Vivour, a young guy who was otherwise intelligent and thoughtful? What has he become? Is he paralysed? He needs prayer and rescue, right?
The burning of the spare parts market, according to Ohanaeze, was akin to “a witch weeping in the night and a baby dying in the morning,” he remarked in response to the events.
“Fani-Kayode and his ilks created the foundation for the mayhem being unleashed on the Igbo people in Lagos,” the leading Igbo organisation claimed. In addition to the market fire, several Igbo individuals have been attacked in various locations around Lagos.
“There are rumours that some Igbo businessmen are being driven out of their stores. This is completely out of line, unacceptable, and has to stop right away.
“Ndigbo have experienced enough injustice in this nation; it should not be permitted to persist. Fani-labeling Kayode’s of the LP candidate as an IPOB supporter is nonsensical. This indicates that all of Fani-kids Kayode’s from his divorced wife Chinwendu are IPOB members.
“We know Fani-Kayode as a characterless guy; he says one thing in the morning, another in the afternoon, and then alters once again at night when food is offered.
He should, however, leave Ndigbo alone and refrain from involving us in his contradictory behaviour. One of his nocturnal tales, claiming that Tinubu supporters were slaughtered in the South-East during the presidential election, should be discounted.
“Local and foreign observers who were in the South-East for the elections confirmed that voters there let down bookies, notably Fani-Kayode, who had set the region up for a massacre. That Ndigbo turned out to vote has him indignant.
Having stated that, we therefore request that Governor Sanwo-Olu and the Federal Government headed by President Muhammadu Buhari secure the safety of the Igbo population in Lagos.
Fani-Kayode and his paymasters should be held accountable for all the atrocities committed against Ndigbo in Lagos because nobody is above the law. He must undoubtedly be held accountable.
“Nobody, and I mean nobody, in this nation can scare Ndigbo; any more attacks on Igbos in Lagos would be repelled, regardless of who is funding the preparations.
“On March 18, Ndigbo should cast their ballots for the candidate of their choosing.
“May we remind Fani-Kayode and his ethnic jingoists that in 1952, Mallam Umaru Altine, a Fulani from Sifawa in the Sokoto Caliphate, was chosen as the first mayor of Enugu, the spiritual home and beating heart of the Igbo People. He held that position until 1958.
This further demonstrates that the Igbo are never the country’s issue; rather, they are more tolerant than everyone else. Okwu cautioned against pushing us any farther.
