Kaduna State Governor Nasir El-Rufai has reassured Igbos living in the state of their safety.
The governor’s reassurance is coming just three days to the October 1 deadline which a coalition of Arewa Youths gave the Igbos living in the North to vacate the region in the interest of peace.
Although the Arewa youths have withdrawn the ultimatum, the state government says it is not leaving anything to chance in ensuring the safety of all residents irrespective of their tribe or religion.
Governor El-Rufai, who briefed journalists on Thursday through his spokesman, Samuel Aruwan, assured the Igbos that adequate security arrangement has been put in place to ensure their safety.
He also said a State High Court had already issued a warrant for the arrest of members of the Arewa youths who signed the quit order to bring them to justice.
Kaduna, like some states in the country, has suffered several conflicts over the years which have claimed many lives property, especially in the southern part of the state.
The state government is, however, asking all residents to go about their lawful business, reiterating its resolve to put a stop to the crises.
The government asked the people to uphold and respect their neighbors and report any suspicious activity or person to security agencies.
hairman of Arewa Youth Consultative Forum (AYCF), Ambassador Shettima Yarima, has said the quit notice given to Igbo in the northern states stands, pending the outcome of their current consultations across board.
• ‘You can’t live with us and talk Biafra’
• ‘We won’t use force’
The Chairman of Arewa Youth Consultative Forum (AYCF), Ambassador Shettima Yarima, has said the quit notice given to Igbo in the northern states stands, pending the outcome of their current consultations across board.
“Our stand on Biafra still stands. But when the period expires, we are not going to expel them by force. We don’t have the constitutional power to do that. So whoever does not believe in Nigeria can leave at his will peacefully. We are not using any force to eject them from the North,” he said.
Yarima spoke at a town hall meeting organised by a coalition of northern youths at Ni’imah Guest Palace Hotel, Kano under the leadership of Nastura Ashir Sharif.
In his keynote address, Sharif said that apart from the quit notice, they had also written to the United Nations on the violent activities of the leader of the Indigenous Peoples of Biafra (IPOB), Nnamdi Kanu, urging them to declare him a terrorist and his agitation illegal.
According to him, the Arewa youths are still expecting a response from the UN which would guide their next move. “That is why we say our quit notice still stands and our resolve that anybody who doesn’t want to stay in Nigeria should vacate our region still stands, but we are not going to use force to actualize that. We will do it through peaceful means, this is because of the fact that one cannot be living with us and talking Biafra,” Sharif stated.
He said it was sad that people focused more on the quit notice issued by the northern youths rather than on a “presented recorded video evidence where Nnamdi Kanu called for genocide like what happened in Rwanda.”
Sharif revealed that “After our Kaduna Declaration, when we issued a quit notice to all Igbo residing in the North to leave the region on or before 1st October, 2017, we received various calls from people both within and outside the country telling us to review our stand and come up with other demands or issues affecting the North.”
He said they were advised to go beyond Biafra issue and come up with strategies to tackle issues bothering on economy, unemployment, security, Almajiri and drug abuse as they affect the North.
“We are indeed heeding the calls, that is why we are here in Kano holding a Town Hall meeting in line with the advice. We would organise similar meetings in North East and North Central after which we will come up with our final stand regarding this issue,” he said.
Prof. Aliyu Jibia, who is the chairman of the Arewa Summit Development Initiative, in his submission, lamented the issue of Almajiri, urging the people to rise against the menace by proffering lasting solution to it.
He revealed that on the 1st of October, the group would hold a one- million-man march to sensitize the people on the menace of Almajiri that has been affecting the region for many years.
The leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra, Nnamdi Kanu, on Wednesday knocked the Acting President, Prof Yemi Osinbajo, for allegedly equating the IPOB group with the “faceless and uninformed” northern youths coalition, which issued a quit notice to the Igbo living in the North.
Kanu, who spoke in Abuja through his team of defence counsel led by Ifeanyi Ejiofor at a briefing, also accused the Federal Government of disrespecting court orders.
Kanu demanded that other detained IPOB leaders — Chidiebere Onwudiwe, Benjamin Madubugwu, David Nwawuisi and Bright Chimezie, be freed immediately.
He said, “With due reverence to the Acting President, and his rank as a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, we deem it obligatory to state the correct position of the law as it relates to his faulty position.
“We observed most respectfully that the learned silk made this remark in direct response to the quit notice threats and ultimatum handed down to Igbo living in the northern part of the country, by a faceless and uninformed northern group.
“But it must be noted that it is a mistake to equate the lawful and legitimate aspirations and agitations for Biafra with the unlawful, illegal and illegitimate quit notice, and threat given to the Igbo people to leave the North by this group.
“We submit that the right to self-determination, recognisable under various instruments which Nigeria is a signatory to is clearly provided for under Article 20(1) of the African Charter on Human and Peoples Rights (Ratification and Enforcement) ( Act Cap 10) Laws of the Federation of Nigeria 1990.”
The lead counsel said the five counts preferred against the IPOB leaders must also be “immediately withdrawn.”
“Section 35(1)(4) (a)(b) of the 1999 Constitution is explicit on the maximum length of time that a citizen can be detained in custody either with order of court or without trial. This period is two months and Bright Chimezie has spent well over nine months in detention of the state without trial, more so when a court of competent jurisdiction has ordered the Department of State Services to release Chimezie.
“On the strength of the foregoing, we demand that the five counts preferred against our clients — Kanu, Onwudiwe, Madubugwu. Nwawuisi and Chimezie — be immediately withdrawn and the defendants freed without further ado.
“We demand that Chimezie, who was ordered to be released by the order made on May 24 by His Lordship, Hon. Justice Ijeoma Ojukwu, be released immediately without further ado and in compliance with the positive orders of court.”
Over the ultimatum give to the Igbos to quit the North, the former Abia State governor, has just received the leaders of the Coalition of Arewa Youths in his office in Abuja.
Former Abia State Governor, Dr. Orji Kalu, on Tuesday afternoon, received the leaders of the Coalition of Arewa Youths led by its chairman, Alhaji Shettima Yerima in his office in Abuja.
Here's what he posted on his Facebook page over the meeting on the Northern group;
"This afternoon, I received the leaders of the Coalition of Arewa Youths led by its Chairman, Alhaji Shettima Yerima . It is the same group that made the Kaduna declaration in which three months quit notice was given to the Igbo people living in the North. The quit notice have actually been a source of worry to me because I knew the commitments of our people around the world not to talk more of being economic migrants in nature.
"The unnecessary uprising caused by the quit notice inundated me to call them to order as nothing is too much to be sacrificed for peace. I believe the actions of these youth were borne out of frustration and I am happy that they have promised me today that they will further consult to sheath their swords and denounce their declaration.
"Today, they have given me their word of embracing peace and maintaining that no harm shall befall any of our people in the North. I believe in a united Nigeria where fairness, equity and justice are instituted. I also believe that our lives are sacrosanct and no Igbo blood should be spilled at any slightest provocation again."
Before the visitors left, they had group photographs with their host as proof of their commitment to the promise and rethink.
Ahead of the October 1 quit notice, the Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Muhammadu Sa’ad Abubakar has disclosed that Northern leaders have been meeting in order to avert possible crisis.
Speaking in Kaduna, the monarch said traditional rulers in the North are committed to a peaceful Nigeria.
According to Abubakar,
“We have been doing a lot since the threat given by our youths to Igbo to go back to the South East by October 1. We’ve been very proactive in holding so many meetings.
“We are getting somewhere, and at the end of all this discussion, we will emerge much stronger and more united country.”
Similarly, the Sultan had identified insincerity and commitment on the part of leaders in the north as the cause of the present situation in the region.
Recall that a coalition of Northern youths had recently in Kaduna asked Igbos to vacate their region by October 1.
Col. Joe Achuzia (rtd), a Biafra War veteran, has described the eviction notice issued to the Igbo by the Coalition of Arewa Youths as real, saying that the targets are not only Igbo but every other ethnic nationality except the Fulani.
According to The Sun News, while so many have elected to take the ultimatum for granted, Achuzia cautioned against it on the ground that the youths meant business as the ultimatum is the first step in trying to execute a resolution reached in 1989.
Achuzia said there was an Islam in Africa conference held in London precisely November 28, 1989 when it was agreed to Islamise the African continent with Nigeria as the hub.
To achieve this agenda which has a time frame, Achuzia said the then Head of State, Ibrahim Babangida committed $21b of the nation’s resources into the project.
He told Daily Sun in an exclusive interview in Asaba that the Fulani Muslims in Nigeria are now running out of time, hence, the youths backed by their elders have initiated the process of the Islamic agenda, starting with the Igbo who they consider as serious threats.
“It is now clear why the Igbo are targeted because they are primarily pan-Africans. They wanted an Africa that exposes the concept of democracy and leadership within the African continent.
“The Fulani being sojourners from across the Golan Heights into Africa through Egypt to Libya, Tunisia, Morocco and all the way to the various countries in West Africa had been on a non-stop Jihad.
“The idea is to colonize Africa and make it an Islamic continent, not nation, with Nigeria the largest country in size and population to lead the crusade of turning Africa into an Islamic continent.
“To do this, there was a meeting held on November 28, 1989 in London setting up an Islamic council to Islamic organisation to make Nigeria a hub of Islamisation in Africa and they were given a time frame.
“The time now is up, according to what I can read, the youths are playing their roles which is giving notice to the only group they thought is responsible for making it difficult for them to Islamise Africa.
“After all, the Igbo want Africa as a democracy whereby we can live and let’s live but Islam wants to eliminate Christianity, Amadiya and so on,” Achuzia stated.
He warned that if the threat by Arewa youths is treated with kid gloves, no region, not even the Middle Belt and Amadiya Islam of South-West region would survive the consequence, adding that the only way out is to restructure the country.
“The only way to douse the fire is to reconstruct Nigeria. If you don’t restructure, the country will either go up in smoke or even if it goes up in smoke, there will be nothing left for Islam, and nothing left for Christianity and other religions.
“If Fulani Islam cannot accept Amadiya as part of the Islamic organisation, how do you expect them to accept Christianity? But restructuring will bring about live and let’s live.
“Maybe gradually as time goes on we will learn to love one another but for now, that conference they held in London in 1989 is what is creating the problem that we face now. The ultimatum has been given as a means of calling the Igbo to get out before we force you, this we will not accept,” he insisted.
He opined that there is a demarcation line separating “the Fulani from Hausa of the middle belt; demarcating them from the Maiduguri people who are Kanuri; separating them from the Yoruba who adopted Islam but called it the Amadiya Islam which the Fulani refused that as far as they are concerned they don’t call it Islam.
The coalition of Northern youth groups who had earlier in the month called for Igbos to vacate the region on or before the 1st of October have written to the Acting President Yemi Osinbajo to allow the Igbos “actualize their dream” of the sovereign nation of Biafra.
The letter has stated that the coalition feels “it is risky” for the North to go on “pretending like it is safe” to cohabitate with the Igbos in Nigeria.
According to Vanguard, the letter was signed by Shettima Yerima, Joshua Viashman, Aminu Adam, Abdul-Azeez Suleiman, and Nastura Ashir Sharif.
Read the letter below:
Though we do not doubt Your Excellency’s bona fide concerns for the peaceful resolution of the crises, we nevertheless have reservations as to the efficacy of this approach in ensuring lasting solutions.
Our doubts are informed by the following historical antecedents that have characterized the behavior and conduct of the Igbo in Nigeria and previous efforts at containing them.
The Igbo of Eastern Nigeria manifested their hatred for Nigeria’s unity barely five years after we gained our independence from the British when on January 15, 1966, their army officers carried out the first-ever mutiny that marked the beginning of a series of crisis which has profoundly altered the course of Nigeria’s history.
By that ill motivated cowardly and deliberate action, the Igbo killed many northern officers from the rank of lieutenant colonel upwards and also decapitated the Prime Minister and the political leadership of the Northern and Western regions but left the zenith of Igbo leadership at the Federal level and the Eastern region intact. “In line with the Igbo plan, General Aguiyi-Ironsi took advantage of the vacuum and, instead of returning power to the remnants of the First Republic government, he appropriated the coup and attempted to consolidate it for his people.
Army officers of the Northern Region were eventually compelled to execute a counter coup on July 29, 1966 following a coordinated series of brazen provocations from the Igbo who taunting northerners on northern streets by mocking the way leaders of the region were slain by the Igbo. This unfortunately resulted in mob action which resulted in the death of many Igbos.
And when Lt. Col. Yakubu Gowon, from the North took over as Head of State following the counter coup, the Igbo through Lt. Col. Ojukwu, characteristically refused to recognize Gowon.
Ojukwu declared the secession of the Igbo people from Nigeria and the formation of the republic of Biafra on May 30, 1967 resulting in a civil war that led to the tragic deaths of more than 2 million Nigerians.
Concerned by the fact that the Biafrans have confessed to arming themselves for a violent breakup, we feel that it is risky for the rest of the country particularly the North to go on pretending that it is safe for us to co habitate with the Igbos given how deeply they are entrenched in our societies .
And since evidently the Igbo have not been sufficiently humbled by their self imposed bloody civil violence of 1966, we are strongly concerned that nothing short of granting their Biafran dream will suffice.
And since the Igbo have virtually infiltrated every nook and cranny of Northern Nigeria where they have been received with open arms as fellow compatriots, we strongly believe that the region is no longer safe and secure in the light of the unfolding threats and the fact that for a long time, the Igbo have gone to extra ordinary lengths to ensure that in their domain in the South East, Northerners and Westerners are as much as possible disenfranchised from owning any businesses whereas in Kano alone, they own not less than 100, 000 shops across all the business districts.
That since the younger generation of Nigerians makes up for more than 60 per cent of the nation’s population, it is our hope that they inherit this country in better shape so that they can build a much better future for themselves and their offsprings in an atmosphere that is devoid of anarchy, hate, suspicion and negativity that characterize the polarized, and clearly irreconcilable differences forced on us by the Biafran Igbos.
As the Igbo agitations persist and assume threatening dimensions, we submit that there is need to ensure that they are given the opportunity to exercise the right to self-determination as entrenched under the aforementioned international statutes to which Nigeria is a signatory.
Aware that the right of self-determination in international law is the legal right for a “people” that allows them to attain a certain degree of autonomy from a sovereign state through a legitimate political process, we strongly demand for a referendum to take place in a politically sane atmosphere where all parties will have a democratic voice over their future and the future of the nation.
The Igbo from all over the country and in the Diaspora should be advised to converge in their region in the South-East for a plesbisite to be organized and conducted by the United Nations and other regional bodies for them to categorically to decide between remaining part of Nigeria or having their separate country.
That government should at the end of the plesbite implement whatever is agreed and resolved in order to finally put this matter to rest.
Lastly, we pray His Excellency to study the references forwarded with this letter dispassionately and decide who is more in the wrong between those who openly pledge allegiance to a country other than Nigeria backing it up with persistent threats of war and those of us whose allegiance remains with the Nigerian state but simply urge that the secessionists be allowed to actualize their dream peacefully throw universally entrenched democratic options.
Acting President Yemi Osinbajo on Wednesday met with South East Governors and other leaders of thought from the region and urged them not to be tempted into a tit-for-tat scenario amid hate speeches across the country.
At the meeting which held at the old Banquet Hall, Presidential Villa, Abuja, Osinbajo urged the leaders to always speak out against hate speeches and comments capable of polarizing the country along ethnic, sectional and religious lines.
He stated that the meeting was “very urgent and crucial’’ because of the current loud voices of hate speeches and divisive comments resonating across the country, stressing that the situation required urgent attention from all concerned.
According to him, this is not the time to hide under any ethnic or religious platform to support comments that divide rather than unite us as a nation.
“Violence and war are not going to do anyone any good. Wars today hardly ends. No one who has seen the face of wars even on Television who wish it for anyone.
“We should not tolerate hate speeches or divisive comments.’’
The acting president reiterated the Federal Government’s resolve to deal with any troublemaker who threatens the peaceful coexistence of Nigeria.
He said:
“There is no doubt on the resolve of the government to allow anyone get away with hate speeches and divisive words.
“Our emotion should not be allowed to run wide so as to threaten the existence of anyone anywhere in Nigeria.
“We will do everything within our power to protect the lives of every citizen anywhere and in any part of the country.’’
He thanked the leaders for their prompt response to the consultative meeting.
Those who attended the meeting included the Senate President Bukola Saraki, Speaker of the House of Representatives Yakubu Dogara, Governor of Enugu State Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi, Governor of Ebonyi State David Umahi, Governor of Abia State Okezie Ikpeazu, Governor of Anambra State Willy Obiano and Governor of Imo State Rochas Okorocha.
The Acting President on Tuesday began consultations with leaders of thought from the North and warned that the government would deal decisively with persons who make hate speeches or attempt to disrupt the peace of the country.
The meeting was a sequel to the calls for secession by youth from different ethnic groups in the country resulting in some asking others to vacate their enclave before Oct. 1.
The Acting President noted that that was not what the country desired at this time and urged those involved to desist or face the full weight of law.
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