Government Condemns CNY for Saying Igbo People Living in North Should Relocate with their Wives & Children

Outrage, condemnation, defiance and tension have trailed the October 1 ultimatum issued by the Coalition of Northern Youths (CNY) to South-easterners living in the North to move out.

The CNY reportedly issued an ultimatum to Igbos to vacate the Northern part of Nigeria within three months or be forced to leave.

Due to this, the ‘Ndigbo’ residents in the North have begun relocating their wives and children to the South-East despite the quit order condemnation by the Federal Government, Northern governors, Afenifere and Arewa Consultative Forum.

According to information gathered by Punch, some of the residents in the Sabon Gari area (a community occupied by non-indigenes) are already panicking over the threat, some of them have systematically started sending their wives and kids home to avoid being trapped in the web of uncertainty.

Reacting to the threat, Eze Ndigbo Kano, Igwe Boniface Ibekwe, on Thursday has however, asked the Igbo community in Kano to ignore the threat and regard it as empty, because it lacked the backing of the Northern leadership.

”I believe and based on my understanding, as a major stakeholder in the North, the Northern leaders are never in support of the threat, so they should ignore it and go about their day-day business and activities.
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I believe if they want to issue such a threat, it must be with numerous consultations, stressing that he believes in one Nigeria, just as he also believes in the ability of Nigerians solving their problems. Whatever their grievances are, the appropriate authorities would look into it, so they should not take laws into their hands,” he said.

Ibekwe is also the Eze Diorama (iv), and the president-General of all Ezes in the Diaspora.

Still on the matter, Governors of the 19 Northern States have seriously condemned the act.

Borno Governor and Chairman of the Northern States Governors’ Forum, Kashim Shettima spoke on behalf of his colleagues in Maiduguri on Wednesday evening saying they are in touch with heads of their security agencies and have taken measures that will guarantee the rights of all Nigerians to live in the 19 States in the three geo-political zones within the north.

“On behalf of the Governors of the 19 Northern States, we totally condemn such irresponsible pronouncements by those groups, we condemn, we disown, and we are totally distancing ourselves from those faceless groups who don’t have the mandate of the people of Northern Nigeria to make such loud pronouncements.

Section 41, Subsection 1 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria is very explicit in safeguarding the rights of all Nigerians to reside in any part of the country with no hindrance whatsoever. But then, ‎when you see a toad dancing in the broad daylight, the drummer is not far off from the main road. We wish to call on the security agencies to beam their lenses on these groups, and unearth the faces behind the mask. Some months back, there were cases of importation of arms, illegal importation of arms intercepted at the ports, then we started hearing rumours of a coup d’etat.

Now, a group, or a bunch of groups that do not have the mandate of the people came up with remarks capable of destabilizing the north and the country as a whole. We are one nation tied to a common destiny, the governance of Northern Nigeria is not in alignment with those pronouncements, and we will take whatever measures that is necessary to safeguard the lives and properties of Nigerians living in any part of the North.

I am in contact to most of my colleagues, and they all talking to heads of security establishments in their respective domains because we cannot afford to take chances. We cannot afford to toil with the destiny of this country.

The 19 Northern Governors wish to call on our brothers of Igbo descent to remain calm and go about their legitimate businesses. Nobody can dare to intimidate, harass or dehumanize them in any of the 19 Northern States, our Governors will not allow that,” Shettima said.