Ohaneze decries attack on Igbos residing in Lagos
By Ben Ezechime, Enugu
The Ohaneze Ndigbo Worldwide has lamented the unfortunate attack on Igbo residing in Lagos in the aftermath of last Saturday’s Governorshp and House of Assembly elections in the state.
In a statement made available by the Spokesperson of Ohaneze Ndigbo Worldwide, Dr Alex Ogbonnia, the apex Igbo socio-cultural organization said it was disturbed by the unpatriotic action of the perpetrators of act.
The statement reads in part: “It is with a deep sense of concern that Ohanaeze Ndigbo Worldwide wishes to draw the public attention to the barefaced brutality, repression and existential threat presently perpetrated against the Igbo population in Lagos State of Nigeria.
“It will be recalled that in the run-up to the February 25, 2023 presidential election, Ndigbo in Lagos were subjected to inhuman treatments by the so-called “owners” of Lagos for which reason many of our people were brazenly attacked, oppressed, repressed, and disenfranchised for no other reason than insisting on their civic rights to vote for candidates of their choice.”
According to the Spokesperson: “A few days ago, Mr Bayo Onanuga, the Spokesperson for Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, issued a “warning ” threat to Igbos in Lagos State warning them to stop “interfering ” with politics in the state.
He said: “This year 2023 should be the last time the Igbos should interfere in Lagos politics. Lagos State belongs to Yorubas and let there be no repeat in 2027; Igbos are not Lagosians but mere strangers from another ethnic group.
“Igbos are merely tolerated in Lagos without remorse and I owe no one any apology for addressing the existential threats of my Yoruba stock. I am after all, first of all a Yoruba, before being a Nigerian.”
Ohaneze said that during the 2015 general election, one of the most influential traditional rulers in Nigeria, the Oba of Lagos, Rilwan Akiolu, was quoted as threatening the Igbo in Lagos by saying that “anyone that fails to vote for the governorship candidate of the APC would perish in the lagoon.”
“In the build-up to the 2023 general election, the Baale of Igbara community, Jakande, in Eti-Osa LGA of Lagos State threatened that they were ready to fight the Igbo, if they voted against the All Progressives Congress (APC).
“In another development, the INEC Resident Electoral Commissioner in Lagos State, Segun Agbaje stated that the reason the Igbo in Lagos cannot have their PVC is that they were from the South-Eastern part of the country, inferring that they are immigrants; in what Prof. Bolaji Akinyemi criticised as a “ _Conspiracy against Democracy: INEC REC; Segun Agbaje’s Outburst, Other Matters Arising_ ” and thus accused the INEC REC of being complicit in a plan to disenfranchise the Igbo in Lagos, ” Ogbonnia said
Ohaneze also lamented about a statement credited to “a notorious Lagos thug, Musiliu ‘MC Oluomo’ Akinsanya, threatening that “Igbos who will not vote for the APC in the governorship election to should stay at home.
“Consequently, in the aftermath of the presidential election held on February 25, 2023, Ndigbo in Lagos have had their shops vandalized and burnt down with the authorities in Lagos looking the other way.
“In the process, many Igbos have suffered physical and psychological harm, loss of property and death.
“Again, on March 19, 2023, many Igbo ethnics that came out to exercise their franchise were attacked with dangerous weapons including AK-47 machine guns. While some of the Igbo sons and daughters were alleged to have died in the process, some others are in various hospitals in Lagos State, ” the body said.
He added: “Ohanaeze wants to know why in every election, Igbos in Lagos would be a target of attack by both the traditional institutions and government agencies while the federal government of Nigeria would complicitly watch and sanctimoniously preach that the unity of Nigeria is indivisible and indissoluble.
“It is once more pointed out that Lagos was the capital of Nigeria at the Nigerian Independence in 1960; just like Abuja is today the capital of Nigeria. It is of course highly inconceivable for a particular ethnic group to be excluded from the social, economic and political activities in the federal capital territory of any country or in any part of the country for that matter.
“In other words, instead of commendations and plaudits for the invaluable contributions of the Igbo in Lagos State, some miscreants have taken barbarism to the extreme by killing and maiming the Igbo because they came out to vote in a democratic election.
“Ohanaeze Ndigbo does not want to view the Yoruba ethnic group through the narrow lens orchestrated by the illegits, miscreants, hoodlums and the jaundiced half Yoruba who have met culture and civilization half way.
“This is because, the Ohanaeze cannot forget the likes of Dr. Olusegun Obasanjo, Chief Ayo Adebanjo, the Afenifere and indeed all those eminent Yoruba that stood on the side of justice, equity and history by supporting Mr. Peter Obi of the Labour Party for the presidency of Nigeria in 2023.
“Neither are we unaware of the numerous Igbo sons and daughters whose spouses are from the Yoruba ethnic group.
Ohanaeze Ndigbo further points out that all the highly placed persons, such as the Onanugas who have championed threats, maiming and killings of the Igbo in Lagos have never been brought to book as a deterrent to other unrepentant ethnic chauvinists, ” the Organuzation said.
Ohanaeze said it underscores the fact that Ndigbo were essentially republican and cosmopolitan in nature with a very open society that admits competence far and above ethnic sentiments.
According the Igbo Organization: “In the First Republic, a Fulani man was elected the Mayor of Enugu. In last Saturday’s governorship and House of Assembly elections, a Yoruba man, Chinasa Abiola was elected as a member of Abia State House of Assembly to represent Umuahia South State Constituency.
“The atrocities against the Igbo in Lagos State should stop before it degenerates into other untold consequences.
“We therefore call on the President and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of the Federal Republic of Nigeria as well as the Inspector-General of Police, the Director of DSS, the Governor of Lagos State, as well as Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu and others to wade into this ethnic profiling of the Igbo in Lagos State and the attendant hardship which our people have been subjected to with a view to averting this impending tragedy.
“Surely, students of history will easily recall that those calling for war may know why the war will begin but will surely not know how, where, when and in whose favour the war will end.
“Ohanaeze wants to let the world know that Ndigbo have paid the ultimate prize for the unity of Nigeria. Despite the harrowing experiences we endured during the civil war, the Igbo have embraced Nigeria with great enthusiasm, open-mindedness, hospitality, entrepreneurship, creativity and patriotism.”
