The Muhammadu Buhari-led government has explained why it has not arrested the architects of the Coalition of Northern Youth quit notice issued to the Igbo living in northern Nigeria.
The Nation reports that the explanation came on the heels of calls by United Nations (UN) experts for the arrest of those behind the June 6 quit notice.
It also came on a day the Independent Peoples of Biafra (IPOB) lashed out at the Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF) over the pan-North group’s warnings to Ohanaeze Ndi’ Igbo, a pro-East organisation.
At a news conference in Abuja Tuesday, attorney-general of the federation and justice minister, Abubakar Malami (SAN) said they did not go after sponsors of the quit notice due to the “security implications”, adding that the Federal Government was being strategic in handle the issue.
He said: “The way the government works is that a lot of considerations naturally come into play. One is investigation, which is not time-bound; two, security consideration; three, expeditious determination and consideration of public interest.
“But one thing that is certain is that the government is ever alive to its responsibilities and whoever is found wanting, regardless of the length of time, will definitely be brought to book.
“That is the way it works. I assure you that the government will, within the context of its responsibilities, work to ensure good governance, justice, peace and fairness in the nation.”
The Northern youths have withdrawn the quit notice on the Igbo to vacate the North on October 1st.
Their spokesman, AbdulAziz Suleiman, said the withdrawal was as a result of consultations and pressure from various groups.
Also yesterday, the IPOB, through its spokesman, Emma Powerful, warned the Federal Government against re-arresting its leader, Nnamdi Kanu.
Leave The North By October 1 – Arewa Groups Warn Igbos
A coalition of prominent groups in Northern Nigeria on Tuesday, June 6, 2017 issued an ultimatum to Igbos living in the north to return home by October 1, 2017 or else they will face a situation similar to the pre-civil war pogroms visited on their kin in the 1960s.
The order was contained in an error-ridden statement, obtained by The Trent, issued after a meeting in Kaduna State. The groups, Arewa Citizens Action for Change, Arewa Youth Consultative Forum, Arewa Youth Development Foundation, Arewa Students Forum, and the Northern Emancipation Network, asked the Igbo residing in the region to “start making plans to leave.”
The chilling statement condemned the renewed call for the independent republic of Biafra and also expressed disdain for the Igbos and their culture saying that “the Igbo people of the South-East, not repentant of the carnage it wrought on the nation in 1966, is today boldly reliving those sinister intentions connoted by the Biafran agitation that led to the very first bloody insurrection in Nigeria’s history”.
In 1966, the Igbos were the victims of the largest genocide in Nigeria’s history with over 100,000 of them killed in Northern Nigeria by northern mobs. This pogrom led to the declaration of the Republic of Biafra which led to the Nigerian civil war in which over 3 million Igbos died.
The northern groups’ threat to Igbos is now widely referred to as the Kaduna Declaration and has been widely condemned by public officials and political groups. However, it has also received wide support from northern elements like Professor Abdullahi.
Additional reports by Signal.
