Unic Press UK: The Nigerian government has advised all Nigerians to eschew making statements that could cause a breach of the peace.
The government was reacting to the declaration on Tuesday, the 6th June 2017, which was issued during a parley in Arewa House, Kaduna, by a coalition of Northern Youth Groups – Arewa Youth Consultative Forum, Arewa Citizens Action for Change, Northern Youth Vanguard, Arewa Youth Development Foundation, Arewa Students Forum, Northern Emancipation Network – asking all the Igbo people residing in the northern region to quit before 1st October 2017.
“There is zero tolerance for actions and speeches capable of inciting one part of the country against another, and the security agencies are fully on the ground to deal decisively with any individual or group that engages in incendiary activities,” the minister of information & culture Lai Mohammed was quoted by the Voice of Nigeria.
Lai Mohammed on twitter:
The Buhari Admin vehemently condemns such a wicked plan by faceless Northerns youths to evict Igbos from the North. This is their country na
— Alhaji Lai Mohammed (@MohammedLai) June 7, 2017
President Buhari commends the Kaduna state government for arresting those miscreants. Jobless youths.
— Alhaji Lai Mohammed (@MohammedLai) June 7, 2017
Kaduna State government denounce eviction notice, order arrest
The Kaduna state government has ordered security agencies to arrest all those associated with the so-called eviction notice served on the Igbo people of Nigeria. In a statement on Wednesday, the 7th June 2017, the governor’s senior special assistant in-charge of media and publicity, said:
“The Kaduna State Government condemns in the strongest terms the press statement by some self-appointed “northern youths” that threatened the safety and property of our citizens of Igbo extraction. Government assures every resident of our state that their constitutional and human rights to live peacefully and own property wherever they choose is sacrosanct. Even people who may feel unhappy about irresponsible comments or actions that have taken place in other states must know that two wrongs cannot make a right.
“The Kaduna State Government believes in and will uphold the right of every Nigerian to live safely and develop his/her full potentials within its territory.
“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. Therefore, the Kaduna State Government has directed that its Ministry of Justice should 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 Kaduna State Government urges all residents to ignore the threats from the “northern youths”. We are in contact with the leadership of the Igbo community in Kaduna, and we delighted to say that this community, like all our other communities, believes in the strength of the constitutional order to protect all citizens.
“KDSG wishes to encourage all our people to celebrate the diversity with which the Almighty has blessed us, to continue to shun agents of division, and to stand firm in upholding a common humanity. Everyone has a right to live in peace and harmony.”
A coalition of Northern Youth Groups, including the Arewa Youth Consultative Forum, Arewa Citizens Action for Change, Northern Youth Vanguard, Arewa Youth Development Foundation, Arewa Students Forum and Northern Emancipation Network had, on 6th June 2017, issued an ultimatum demanding that all the Igbo people residing in the northern region vacate before 1st October 2017.
Abdul-azzez Suleima of the Northern Emancipation Network (left); Shettima Yerima of the Arewa Youth Consultative Forum and Mohammed Eneji Abdulhamid of the Arewa Citizens Action for Change
Excerpts from a statement issued by the spokesperson of the coalition, AbdulAziz Suleiman on Tuesday, the 6th June 2017, read:
“The persistence for the actualisation of Biafra by the unruly Igbo of South-Eastern Nigeria has lately assumed another alarming twist which involved the forceful (sic) lockdown of activities and denial of other people right to free movement in the South-East by the rebel IPOB and its overt and covert sponsors.
“Emboldened by the apparent indifference of the Nigerian authorities, the Igbo secessionist tendency is widening in scope and action at every stage, with adverse effects on the law-abiding people of other regions residing in or passing through the East, while the Igbo leaders and elders by their utterances and direct action or inaction appear to support and encourage it.
“From today, June 6, 2017, when this proclamation is signed, the North, a critical player in the Nigerian project, hereby declares that it will no longer be disposed to coexisting with the Igbo and shall take definite steps to end the partnership by pulling out of the current federal arrangement.
“The North hereby openly calls on the authorities and other national and international stakeholders to acknowledge this declaration by taking steps to facilitate the final dissolution of this hopeless union that has never been convenient to any of the parties.
“Consequently, officials of the signatory groups to this declaration are already mandated to commence immediate inventory of all properties, spaces or activity in the north currently occupied by the Igbo for forfeiture at the expiration of the ultimatum contained in this declaration.
“With the effective date of this declaration, which is today, Tuesday, June 06, 2017, all Igbo currently residing in any part of Northern Nigeria are hereby served notice to relocate within three months and all northerners residing in the East are advised likewise.”
