The Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) has expressed
gratitude to Arewa groups for having the courtesy to
give the Igbo an advance warning to vacate northern
Nigeria.
The group, however, pleaded for ample time for Igbo to
relocate back to the south.
Some Arewa youth groups had recently issued three
months quit notice from the north to Igbo residing
there.
Although the call was roundly criticised by northern
governors and stakeholders, spokesman of the
Northern Elders Forum (NEF) Ango Abdullahi, on
Friday, expressed support for the youth groups.
Reacting in a statement signed by Emma Powerful,
IPOB assured the Arewa groups that its people will
heed the warning and leave northern Nigeria.
IPOB called on all southerners in the north to start
exiting the region as soon as possible.
“We the members of the Indigenous People of Biafra
(IPOB) and it’s leadership worldwide wish to sincerely
thank the Arewa Elders Forum(AEF), Arewa Youths
and Arewa Consultative Forum for seeing sense in
what IPOB has been saying about the need for a
referendum to be conducted in Nigeria to decide the
fate of the component ethnic nationalities criminally
lumped together by the British in 1914,” the statement
read.
“Biafrans in general also wish to thank these vocal
Northerners for at least having the courtesy to issue
advance warning this time before embarking on their
routine massacre of Igbos and other Biafrans living in
Northern Nigeria; unlike what their fathers did in 1966
when death, destruction and mayhem were unleashed
upon unsuspecting innocent civilian populations from
the South comprising of mostly Igbo men, women and
children.
“Igbo massacres in Northern Nigeria has occurred so
many times that it has almost become some sort of an
annual sporting activity for blood thirsty Northern
youths. That is why we are particularly grateful to
Arewa Youths and Elders for having the decency to
give us prior notice before the slaughter commences.
“We promise to adhere to your warning to leave
Northern Nigeria because a word is enough for the
wise. Biafrans and other Southerner should start
packing their properties to come down to the South.
We also advice the Northern youths and their Elders to
keep it on because all they have done is exercise their
right to free speech which is not a crime under any law
known to man. We are therefore against those calling
for the arrest of these Arewa Youths and their Elders.
“It is abundantly evident from the genocidal
statements coming from certain influential segments
of Northern Nigeria that the British socio-political
experimentation and economic fraud we know today
as Nigeria, should not have been created in the first
place.
IPOB is very much aware of the covert blackmail
and implied threat inherent in the utterances
emanating from Islamic Northern Nigeria.
“Furthermore, the assumption that economic
investments of Biafrans in the Northern part of the
contraption called Nigeria is an impediment to Biafra
restoration project is misguided and most definitely
misplaced.
This is cheap blackmail designed to trigger
rancour among Biafra populations because the North
have always assumed and wrongly too, that Igbos will
place economic well being over and above their life.
This assumption is based on a false premise and one
we are determined to prove same as events unfold in
the coming weeks and months.
“IPOB under the divine leadership of Mazi Nnamdi
Kanu is the instrument Chukwu Okike Abiama (God
Almighty) is using to restore Biafra, therefore we are
not afraid of our enemies, neither will any threat or
violence from any quarter deter us. We remain
peaceful in our noble quest to restore Biafra but we
must caution that we always retain the right as a
people to defend ourselves should the need arise.
“The civilised world is aware that we IPOB have been
adopting peaceful means to restore Biafra since 2014.
It is the Arewa Islamic Northern Nigeria dominated
Army, Police, Navy and Civil Defence that has brought
torture, killings, massacres and mayhem to
communities and populations in the South.
Till date,
nobody has been held to account despite the
existence of a comprehensive Amnesty International
report to this effect.
“We are aware that these Northern youths and their
sponsors Britain, have perfected plans to begin
another round of killing of innocent people as the did in
1966. We advise them not to make this mistake
because Britain will no longer protect Islamic Northern
Nigeria because in this digital age, the world is
watching. Allow Biafrans time to relocate peacefully
back to Bafraland, that is all we ask.”
Several key figures in the north, most recently Sokoto
governor Aminu Tambuwal and emir of Katsina
Abdulmumini Kabir, have said the Igbo are free to
reside in the region for as long they want.
TheCable
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