Northern Youths Threat: IGP Swings Into Action, Orders Police To Deal With Masterminds

The Inspector-General of Police, Mr. Ibrahim Idris, has directed all police commands to be ready to counter the north­ern youths who gave Igbo liv­ing in the North three months to leave the region.
He threatened that the po­lice will deal ruthlessly with such elements because the country belongs to all law-abid­ing Nigerians, who are free to live in any part of their choice.

Idris therefore directed all Command Commission­ers of Police (CPs) and Assis­tant Inspectors-General of Po­lice (AIGs) to swing into action and prevent any breach of peace in their areas.
He said his order is to nip in the bud any attempt by the northern groups to actualise their threat.
At a meeting with CPs, AIGs and Deputy Inspectors- General of Police (DIGs) in Abuja on Thursday, the IGP also directed the police to en­force the directive of governors in the North against the Arewa youths.
Immediately the youths gave the order, Governor Nasir el-Rufai of Kaduna State ordered their arrest and prosecution. It was not clear last night if the Police will carry out the directive.
On Tuesday, some youth groups in the North at a media briefing in Kaduna, ordered the Igbo to leave the North from that day and October 1, 2017.
Idris said: “No individual or group has the authority to stop any Nigerian from pursuing his dai­ly bread in any part of the country. These are rights that are guaranteed by the constitution.”
“Definitely, we are not go­ing to allow these groups to carry out these threats. Since they gave a deadline, I want all of us to be alert. We have the responsibility to en­sure that these groups that attempt to prevent any Nigerian from carry­ing out his daily activity are stopped by all means.”
He reiterated that the Nigeria Police Force has the responsibility to stop these groups.
“As CPs and AIGs of com­mands, we have the responsibility to ensure that these groups do not prevent other Nigerians from ex­ercising their individual rights. I want to call on all of you to prevent these groups which are acting out­side the constitution and the law of this country,” Idris said.
He declared that no Nigerian will be allowed to cause confusion in any part of the country in what­ever guise.
The IGP revealed that the Force has concluded plans to form new squadrons in Ilesha, Osun State; Nsukka, Enugu; Takun, Taraba; Shendam, Plateau, and the exist­ing one in Kafanchan, Kaduna State.
The others will be in Ijebu Ogun State and Kontagora in Ni­ger State.

South East Govs urge Igbo to ignore ultimatum

Also, yesterday, the South East Governors’ Forum asked the Igbo people in the North to ignore the ultimatum given by the coalition of Northern Youths in Nigeria and the Arewa Consultative Youth Forum.
The governors also urged the Igbo to go about their normal busi­nesses across the country as the gov­ernors and security agencies would not allow them to suffer any harm in the north.
At a press conference in Gov­ernment House, Abakaliki, the Chairman of the Governors’ Forum and Governor of Ebonyi State, Chief Dave Umahi, described the reloca­tion order as provocative.
He commended the Presiden­cy, the Senate, the security agen­cies, the Kaduna State Governor and other stakeholders for rising up to the occasion by condemning the ultimatum.
He said: “The attention of the South East Governors’ Forum has been drawn to the widely publicised ultimatum credited to a coalition of 16 northern youth associations de­manding that Igbo in northern Ni­geria should vacate the region with­in 90 days or before October 1, 2017 and equally urging northerners res­ident within Igboland to return to the North within the timeframe. We have carefully considered the con­tents of the highly provocative state­ment and reflected on its implica­tions on Ndigbo and specifically on the nation in general.”
“This public statement is in­tended to accomplish a couple of objectives, one of which is to the expression of our deep apprecia­tion to all Nigerians, including the Presidency. The South East Gover­nor’s Forum has repeatedly reiter­ated its commitment to and pref­erence for the existence of a virile, united, prosperous and progressive Nigeria where justice, fairness, eq­uity, mutual respect and equality of opportunity to all citizens regard­less of creed, ethnicity or gender will reign supreme under the inflexible rule of law…”

Ohanaeze Ndigbo hails Ni­gerians

Meanwhile, the President-Gen­eral, Ohanaeze Ndigbo, Chief John Nwodo, has commended the Fed­eral Government for condemning the “quit notice” given to Igbo living in the northern part of the country.
Nwodo spoke on Thursday in Enugu at a symposium organised by the Enugu State chapter of the
Trade Union Congress (TUC).
He said that the Igbo Nation was appreciative of all patriotic Ni­gerians who rose against such di­visive utterances by the northern groups.
The Ohanaeze leader also com­mended Governor El-Rufai for his decision to fish out and prosecute the people behind such hate speech­es.
Nwodo said that such utter­ances were capable of truncating the unity of the country.
S/East Senate Caucus tells Igbo to remain calm
In a reaction to the incident, the South East Senate Caucus has asked Igbo residing in the North to ignore the threat and go about their lawful businesses.
In a statement issued by its Chairman, Senator Enyinnaya Abaribe, in Abuja, the Caucus de­scribed the quit order by the Arewa youths as “poisonous, irresponsible and one that is aimed at dealing a deadly blow to Nigeria’s unity.”
Abaribe said Section 41 (1) of the 1999 Constitution of the Feder­al Republic of Nigeria (as amend­ed), guaranteed the right of “every Nigerian to move freely in and re­side in any part thereof, and no citi­zen of Nigeria shall be expelled from Nigeria or refused entry thereto or exit therefrom.”
“So, nobody or groups of per­sons have the right to abridge the right of the Igbo or any other Nige­rian for that matter”.
The Caucus also asked the peo­ple to be very cautious and vigilant while going about their normal businesses, especially when viewed from the fact that the security agen­cies became lethargic in the face of the treasonable threat by the so-called Arewa youths.

Northern youths’ action threat to national unity – CCC

The Centre for Crisis Commu­nication (CCC) has also expressed concern on the chain of events that has culminated into the unfortunate ultimatum issued to Igbo to vacate the northern region by the Coali­tion of Arewa Youths.
The Centre described the pro­nouncement as “unconstitution­al, provocative and a threat to the peaceful co-existence among the citizens and capable of severing the cord that binds Nigerians.”
In a statement issued in Abu­ja, the Centre’s Executive Secretary, Air Commodore Yusuf Anas (rtd), said that the coalition’s declaration may have been in response to the resurgence of secessionist tenden­cies orchestrated by the Indigenous Peoples of Biafra (IPOB) and Move­ment of the Actualisation of the Sov­ereign State of Biafra (MASSOB) in the South East of Nigeria.
Anas admonished IPOB and its leader, Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, to modify their modus operandi by embracing dialogue with a view to addressing the myriads of socioec­onomic and political issues of the South East and project ideas devoid of antagonistic tendencies.
As a way forward, Anas said that the 15th January of every year, which is the Armed Forces Remem­brance Day, should be expanded to be a National Remembrance Day to be set aside to celebrate the unity of the country and commemorate the civilians and military person­nel who lost their lives during the unfortunate civil war in order not to give room for mischief makers.