Governor Nasir El Rufai has directed the Nigeria Police Force to immediately arrest all the signatories to the Kaduna declaration, giving a three mont
Governor Nasir El Rufai has directed the Nigeria Police Force to immediately arrest all the signatories to the Kaduna declaration, giving a three month ultimatum to the Igbos to leave the northern part of the country. The governor also directed his Attorney General and commissioner for Justice to prepare charges of incitement against leaders of the groups. Addressing a press conference in Kaduna today, the governor said Kaduna state has no room for anybody that will try to incite one section of the country against the other.
The group’s grievance had been over the success of a recent sit-at-home order enforced by the Nnamdi Kanu-led Indigenous People of Biafra on May 30, 2017 which the five South-East states complied with. Reacting to the Kaduna declaration, Ohanaeze Ndigbo, the apex socio-political body of the Igbo, demanded ‘urgent action’ from the country’s security agencies. The group also urged the Igbo in the North to be ‘vigilant’ while going about their activities.
The Kaduna State Government, however, condemned the youths’ action in the statement, insisting that it has been consistent in taking action to punish hate speech and incitement.
“The Kaduna State Government condemns in the strongest terms the press statement by some self-appointed northern youths that threatened the safety and property of our citizens of Igbo extraction. Government assures every resident of our state that their constitutional and human rights to live peacefully and own property wherever they choose is sacrosanct. Even people who may feel unhappy about irresponsible comments or actions that have taken place in other states must know that two wrongs cannot make a right.
Continuing, the state government said, “We will not tolerate such irresponsible statements and conduct in our state. The statement issued by the “northern youths” violates the laws of Kaduna State. Therefore, the Kaduna State Government has directed that its Ministry of Justice should prepare charges and prosecute the signatories and anyone complicit in arranging this egregious assault on the rights of fellow citizens.
“Preparatory to prosecution, the police have been directed to immediately arrest, interrogate the signatories to the statement and investigate all the circumstances and persons that may be implicated in the matter. The Kaduna State Government urges all residents to ignore the threats from the “northern youths”. We are in contact with the leadership of the Igbo community in Kaduna, and we delighted to say that this community, like all our other communities, believes in the strength of the constitutional order to protect all citizens.
A coalition of Northern Youths in a press conference that held at Arewa House, Kaduna, had given three months quit notice to all Igbos residing in the North to leave the region. This was even as it urged all Northerners living in the south-eastern states to leave the region and return to their respective states. A representative of the coalition, Alhaji Abdulaziz Suleiman of the Northern Emancipation Network said all Northern civil society and pressure groups are by this declaration mandated to mobilize for sustained and coordinated campaigns at their respective states.
“We are hereby placing the Nigerian authorities and the entire nation on notice, that as from the 1st October, 2017, we shall commence the implementation of visible actions to prove to the whole world that we are no longer part of any federal union that should do with the Igbos. From that date, effective, peaceful and safe mop-up of all the remnants of the stubborn Igbos that neglect to heed this quit notice shall commence to finally eject them from every part of the North.
“And finally, all authorities, individuals or groups are hereby advised against attempting to undermine this declaration by insisting on this union with the Igbos who have thus far proved to be an unnecessary baggage carried too far and for too long.”
The signatories to the declaration were Arewa Citizens Action for Change, Arewa Youth Consultative Forum, Arewa Youth Development Foundation, and Arewa Students Forum. Others were Northern Emancipation Network, Northern Youth Vanguard, Northern Youths Stakeholders Forum and North-east Assembly.
