Nigerian youth groups threaten to attack Igbo in north

By Rafiu Ajakaye

LAGOS, Nigeria (AA) - Some youth groups in northern Nigeria have threatened to attack the ethnic Igbo community unless they relocate to the country’s southeastern parts within three months.

The threat comes barely a week after Igbo -- the third largest ethnic group in Nigeria after Hausa/Fulani and Yoruba -- observed sit-ins at mostly Igbo-majority areas in commemoration of the 1967 civil war.

The 30-month long civil war had left hundreds of thousands of people dead that began with the exodus of Igbo from the northern region when some members of the community were accused of leading a deadly military coup in 1966.

Igbo groups have often been accused of trying to secede from Nigeria, who in turn point to unfair treatment and marginalization by other ethnic groups, especially the northern elite. Organizers of the recent sit-in had also called for allowing Igbo to go on its own.

The youth groups that issued the threat late Tuesday included the Arewa Citizens Action for Change, Arewa Youth Consultative Forum, Arewa Youth Development Foundation, Arewa Students Forum and the Northern Emancipation Network.

In the statement titled the Kaduna Declaration, the groups jointly said their call had become necessary because of “widening secessionist tendency” of prominent Igbo groups with alleged connivance of elites from the region. They accused Igbo of “harassing” other ethnic groups, including allegedly threatening their business interests across the southeast.

“The persistence for the actualization of Biafra [name of a former secessionist state in Nigeria] by the unruly Igbo of southeastern Nigeria has lately assumed another alarming twist, which involved the forceful lockdown of activities and denial of other people's right to free movement in the southeast by the rebel Indigenous People of Biafra [IPOB], and its overt and covert sponsors,” it said.

The groups -- who called themselves The North in the statement -- declared “it will no longer be disposed to coexisting with the Igbos and shall take definite steps to end the partnership by pulling out of the current federal arrangement.”

Meanwhile, lawyer and conflict resolution expert Dr. Aminu Gamawa called for peace and pointed out the northern youth group did not represent all voices.

Gamawa tweeted on Wednesday: "No group(s) speak for the whole North. The North is also not one group. The Igbos are not going anywhere. Love trumps hate. #NoToViolence".

Ohanaeze Ndigbo, an organization that represents Igbo, also condemned the statement of the northern youths.

In a statement issued on Wednesday, Chuks Ibegbu, deputy publicity secretary of the organization, urged the government to take the threat seriously and arrest the youths planning the attacks on Igbo in the region.

“It should not be seen as an empty threat; urgent action is needed to foil the plan to attack the Igbo in the North. It happened in the past and we don’t want it to happen again,” Ibegbu said

The government is yet to respond to the threats.