Arewa youths have sent a message to Igbos living in the north assuring them that no evil will befall them while also criticising Nnamdi Kanu for rejecting the withdrawal of the quit notice.
The youths had caused public outcry when they issued an ultimatum to Igbos to vacate the north but they withdrew the notice a few months after.
The Sun reports that Shetima Yerima who is the president of the Arewa Consultative Forum said it didn’t matter whether Kanu accepted the withdrawal or not.
He said: “Did I do it for him or in the interest of the country? His rejection of the suspension of the quit notice is not important to me.
“What we did was to demonstrate that we have a culture. We give respect to our elders and it was to ensure that the country remains together.
“The country is above anybody. On that basis, his acceptance or not is not important but I know that he also is not speaking for the Igbo. It is a minority view of few people making all sorts of noise.
“It is not really important to me and I do not want to join issues with them. Nigeria is above everybody and I stand on the path of one united country. We have to build a nation that we can call our own
“Nobody would do anything. Anybody who does anything, we make sure that the authorities arrest the person. We are in charge.
“Nobody should be scared of anything. Our youths are reasonable; they are known to respect one another; we listen to our leaders unlike some other parts of the country. But having said that, you can be rest assured that there is no cause for alarm.
“So, let Nigerians be rest assured that nothing would befall anybody by God’s grace and we are working towards that and we would give the government the maximum support. Our brothers across board, we would make sure that no evil would befall them. That is the position of things.”
He also insisted that he has nothing against Igbo people as a lot of his friends are from the south east.
He said: “A lot of my friends are Igbo people. I have nothing against the Igbo.
“It did not end there; let me also demonstrate that to you; my first wife is from Calabar, the old south-eastern region. We have two kids. I have a good relationship with the Igbo.”
Meanwhile, the Federal High Court, Abuja, on Tuesday, September 5, granted the request seeking to serve court processes on Kanu and the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) through substituted service.
The court, however, ordered that other respondents in the matter, namely: the Inspector-General of Police, the Commandant General, Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps and the Attorney-General of the Federation be served personally.
