NNSG: Arrest Northerners that Gave Igbos Ultimatum Immediately

By Jonathan Eze

The Nigeria National Summit Group (NNSG) has called on the federal government to immediately anybody, whether young or old, who is supporting or behind the ultimatum given to the Igbos resident in the northern part of the country, describing it as a treasonable offence against the country.

In a statement signed by its Executive Secretary, Mr. Tony I Uranta, yesterday and made available to THISDAY, the group noted that such brazen and public act of treason could trigger a pogrom like the civil war that lasted 30 months between 1967 and 1970.

The statement reads in parts: “Although some of the signatories have been comrades seeking Justice in a restructured Nigeria, I am shocked by, and outraged at, this brazen and public act of treason, that could, at the very least, trigger a pogrom against all non-Northern Nigerian; and, at worst, throw Nigeria into a civil war!  We must never forget how the 1966 pogrom in the North eventually threw Nigeria into the costly civil war that lasted for 30 months. Nor, can we deny the avoidable calamities it has wrought on the country since the war ended.

“Nnamdi Kanu’s IPOB never created terror on this level, yet he spent so long in detention charged with treason against the nation. These youths and elders who are definitely trying to whip up hate and violence in millions of otherwise peaceful northerners must be seen in the same light that Kanu was by the federal government. This is NOT a case of treason against Kaduna State; it is a case of terrorism expressly promised…a threat to the very survival of Nigeria.

“All leaders that publicly support the “Igbos-must-leave” stand, be they young or old, must be quickly arrested, fully investigated and lawfully prosecuted! Anything less than that will be seen as nepotistic favouritism premised on base ethnic sentiments. Let the courts determine who is culpable of what…but, let Nigerians not have the perception that there are limits to their rights as citizens.”

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