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Prominent Civil Rights Advocacy Group: HUMAN RIGHTS WRITERS ASSOCIATION OF NIGERIA (HURIWA) said those posting hate messages against members of the Igbo ethnic group residing and doing legitimate businesses in the South West of Nigeria were emboldened by the fact that the Nigeria Police Force tolerated same tendencies during the presidential election when the current president lost Lagos to the Labour Party’s presidential candidate Mr. Peter Obi.
HURIWA recalled that in March 2023 just before the gubernatorial election that one Mr. Musiliu Akinsanya, the then Lagos State Parks Management Committee Chairman, also known as MC Oluomo, had warned Igbos in the state ahead of Saturday’s governorship election. Addressing…
Addressing supporters of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) at a meeting, MC Oluomo threatened Igbos who will not vote for the party to stay at home.
“We have begged them. If they don’t want to vote for us, it is not a fight. Tell them, Mama Chukwudi, if you don’t want to vote for us, sit down at home. Sit down at home,” he said.
This comes after Peter Obi of the Labour Party (LP) won in Lagos state during the presidential poll on February 25, HURIWA recalled just as the Rights group said regrettably the police through the Force Public Relations Officer who hails from the South West attempted to rationalise these unambiguous and open threats to the lives of the igbos just as armed political thugs then went ahead to attack Igbo voters indiscriminately in Lagos and till date those who made threats against Igbos including Bayo Onanuga was never arrested but were rewarded with juicy appointments.
HURIWA recalled that Mr. Bayo Onanuga who is now Special Adviser to President Bola Tinubu on Information and Strategy openly warned Igbos that 2023 general poll is the last time they will be left in peace to interfere in Lagos State politics and affirmed that he has no apologies to make even if his words are seen as threatening Igbos.
HURIWA has therefore condemned the security forces including the Nigeria Police Force for allowing ethnic irredentists and hate criminals in Lagos state to continue to post hate messages targeting certain ethnic nationalities including the recent one in the former twitter now known as @X in which the account owners were quoted as calling for ethnic genocide against Igbos in Lagos and South West. The Rights group wondered why the federal government has maintained sealed lips over this toxic and hate messages.
HURIWA recalled that a statement by H.E Atiku Abubakar, Vice President of Nigeria (1999-2007) and Presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (2023) had confirmed the existence of a sicial media hate message which constituted a genocidal threat to the Igbos to vacate Lagos and the other Southwest states on a specified date.
HURIWA also quoted Atiku Abubakar as saying that: “The recent call on @X (formerly @twitter) for a protest under the hashtag #IgboMustGo, demanding the forced relocation of Igbo people from Lagos and other Southwest states, is deeply troubling and fundamentally opposed to the principles of unity and coexistence that define our nation. Such rhetoric is not only divisive but also endangers our peace and security, as our Constitution guarantees every Nigerian the right to live and work freely anywhere in the country.”
In a media statement denouncing the recent threats against Igbos in the South West which it categorised as a declaration of intent to unleash genocidal killings, the Rights group has charged the security forces to identify, arrest and prosecute the account holder for attempting to instigate civil strife in the Country.
HURIWA said it was unfortunate that the federal government inhabit certain characters who nurse deep seated hatred for Ndigbo such as the Special Adviser to President Bola Tinubu on Information and Strategy Mr Bayo Onanuga.
“We call on the IGP to behave like the chief law enforcement officer of all of Nigeria and go after those posting threats against Igbos and get them prosecuted and punished before they set Nigeria on fire because any attempt to carry out any threat against Igbos in any part of Nigeria could spell doom for Nigeria and this is not what the nation needs at these troubling times. Let the President ensure that his security chiefs do not permit, tolerate Igbophobia.”
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