The Igbo apex socio-cultural organisation, Ohanaeze Ndigbo worldwide, on Monday, called on the federal and state governments to go after those chanting anti-Igbo slogan,#IgboMustGo, across the country.
The anti-Igbo slur emerged amid the nationwide hunger protest, which the South-East refused to join.
It was roundly condemned by both President Bola Tinubu and the Lagos State Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu.
Speaking with The PUNCH on Monday, the National Vice-President of Ohanaeze Ndigbo worldwide, Chief Damian Okeke-Ogene, demanded the arrest of the #IgboMustGo campaigners.
He said, “Ohanaeze Ndigbo is a bridge builder, we believe in law and order. We have been contributing to the development of Nigeria in terms of infrastructure and other means. The anti-Igbo slogan being peddled in some parts of the country is an ugly development.
“We advise the President and the governors of the states where the anti-Igbo slogan is being championed to go after these hoodlums. Tackling this issue goes beyond the rhetoric, it must be matched with action and commitment and they must caution against the outbursts of this group of people doing this.
“The Igbo have been pushed to the wall so much and if it continues like that, they would want to show the stuff they are made of. We advise equally for the proponents of this anti-Igbo slogan to tread softly in their utterances. The situation in the country at the moment is highly volatile and we need to be cautious.”
However, the Ohanaeze leader described as reactionary the call by the separatist Indigenous People of Biafra for a referendum to facilitate the exit of the Igbo from Nigeria.
Okeke-Ogene said, “On the issue of IPOB calling for a referendum to leave Nigeria, one thing we should know is that there is no way you can control the youths when their parents and people are being abused left and right. It is the outcome of the utterances and the profiling of Igbo in some parts of the country.
“It is a reaction to what is currently on the ground and the solution is for the President to come out boldly to caution the proponents of anti-Igbo across the country. We want our brothers doing this to desist from such inflammatory remarks.
“What did Nnamdi Kanu do? He only mentioned that he wants Biafra and that is why he has been incarcerated for years. But then, some people have been threatening taxpayers, indigenes of Nigeria, more especially the Igbo race, to leave a particular state by force.
“This should be resisted, we expected the President and the respective governors of these states to show that they are not backing these proponents of anti-Igbo. These people should be arrested. What are the security agencies doing? We want to see these people being arrested, otherwise, we will want to believe that the government is part of this.”
Earlier in a statement on Monday, IPOB lashed out at the facilitators of the #IgboMustGo campaign in the southwestern part of the country.
The group, therefore, demanded a referendum for the Igbo to exit the Nigerian federation.
“Following the provocative and genocidal #IgboMustGo proposed protest slated to commence from August 20 to August 30, 2024, by some faceless Yoruba groups and persons, the Indigenous People of Biafra wishes to remind the Yoruba anti-Igbo groups that Ndigbo are ready to exit Yoruba land and Nigeria via a referendum.
“Ndigbo will not succumb to any threat from any group or persons to leave any state or region in Nigeria.
“It is laughable that the Governor of Lagos State, Mr Babajide Sanwo-Olu, was reported to have hypocritically condemned the proponents of the #IgboMustGo protest.
“The governor will not hoodwink Ndigbo with his hypocritical condemnation of those calling for Igbos’ expulsion from the South West Region of Nigeria. He was the first to ethnically profile Ndigbo with his biased demolition of Ndigbo’s businesses, properties, and investments in Lagos State.
“There are high chances that the proponents of the #IgboMustGo are sponsored by high profile persons in the Lagos State government and the Federal Government of Nigeria,” IPOB’s spokesman, Emma Powerful, said in a statement.
The separatist group said the Igbo had seen it all and was prepared for any opportunity to exit Nigeria at any time.
“But it will be more appropriate that we are allowed to exit Nigeria peacefully and democratically, to maintain good neighbourly relationships. However, if Ndigbo is forced to exit Nigeria violently, there’s a possibility that we shall remain hostile neighbours for the foreseeable future.
“The Yoruba tribal bigots and their sponsors must understand that Ndigbo is not moved by threat. We have made up our minds to exit Nigeria, so there is no basis for the threat of violence or genocide agenda tagged #IgboMustGo protest.
“Instead of threatening to unconstitutionally and violently force Ndigbo out of the Yoruba region, they should tell President Tinubu their brother to release Nnamdi Kanu and to organise a referendum for Ndigbo to decide between Biafra and Nigeria.
“We will gladly vote and leave Nigeria and Yoruba region in peace. We are demanding this for them to have peace after we are gone. Ndigbo is more enthusiastic to exit Nigeria than it was in the 1960s,” the statement added.
It added that the ongoing #Endbadgovernance protest in the country was organised by the Yoruba and Fulani to lure Ndigbo into destruction, adding that the tribe had learnt its lessons.
“Though Ndigbo declined to participate in the ongoing protests, yet they are being attacked and accused of being behind the protest.
“One can imagine what would have become of Ndigbo in the northern and western regions if they had taken part in the ongoing protest. Ndigbo has always been a victim of every protest in Nigeria.
“Though Ndigbo is facing the same economic hardship that Tinubu’s government has imposed on Nigerians, however, to avoid being targeted as always, they decided to shun the protest.
“The scenario that led to the genocidal war against Biafrans in 1967-1970 is rearing its ugly head. Ndigbo are not only facing existential threats from the Western Region but also from the Northern Region.
“We are calling on Ndigbo in the North and West to think home as fast as possible. No amount of threat will make IPOB retreat from our divine mandate of restoring Biafra,” the statement stated.
The Biafra group called the attention of the international community to the existential threat against Ndigbo in Nigeria.
“The human rights organisations, United Nations, European Union, African Union, all the lovers of freedom should understand that Biafrans are endangered species in the contraption called Nigeria.
“The ethnic profiling and hatred against Ndigbo are glaring in the areas of security, politics, and economics in Nigeria,” it added.