The Arewa Youth Consultative Forum(AYCF) has made a u-turn after issuing an Ultimatum to Igbos to leave all 19 northern states. The group has cancelled the deadline stating that ‘We are One Nigeria’.
There has been serious tension in the country over the past few days after the 3-month Ultimatum was announced. It also directed that all Northerners in the East should return to the North.
The spokesman of the AYCF, Abdulaziz Suleiman said;
“All northern civil society and pressure groups are by this declaration mandated to mobilise for sustained, coordinated campaigns at their respective State Government Houses, State Houses of Assembly, Local Government Council Secretariats and Traditional Palaces to mount pressure for steps to be taken to ensure enforcement of the directives contained herein.
“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.
”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 Igbos and shall take definite steps to end the partnership by pulling out of the current federal arrangement”
After much pressure and widespread condemnation, On Wednesday, Comrade Yerima Shettima, President, Arewa Youth Consultative Forum, and Isaac Balami, Arewa Consultative Forum Congress, appealed to Nigerians not to panic, adding that the country was united and no one was going anywhere.
