The recent pronouncements by a joint group of Arewa youths represented by various organizations, including Arewa Citizens Action for Change, Arewa Youth Consultative Forum, Arewa Students Northern Professionals Business Group Arewa Students Forum and Northern Emancipation Network on the Igbo Persistence for Succession constitute blatant terrorist threats against the Igbos of Nigeria. During their June 6, 2017, meeting in Abuja, these terrorist groups within plain view and in front of video cameras issued ultimatum to fellow Nigerians of Igbo extraction and threatened to wipe out any traces of Igbos in the whole northern Nigeria if they fail to leave the northern soil by October 1, 2017. Up till this moment, thesebloodthirsty murderers are still enjoying their freedom without any arrest by any arms of the government. Conversely, when an Igbo man takes to the street to exercise his constitutionally protected act of demonstrating against injustice in Nigeria, he is mowed down by a band of hard charging soldiers.
Currently many Igbos are expressing outrage through various media about the pending calamities from the Hausas. However, the mere expression of shock is not a strategy. The time has come for Igbo lawyers and the big SANs to become more proactive in presenting these types of open threats by Hausa youths to courts both within and outside Nigeria for justice. The double standards of justice in Nigeria that allow the Hausas to get away with terrorism and genocidal threats must be exposed in courts of law and other theaters of justice across the globe. Time and again, the Hausas have proven that they are above the law and have conducted themselves as a group with imperialistic powers in Nigeria. They have gone around butchering Igbos either directly or through their instruments of terror – the Nigerian Army and Police.
In the light of these threats and the Hausas proclivity to carry out their murderous agenda as history has shown, the Igbos must proactively react to these threats. Without discussing specific strategies, the following initial actions must be taken and funded by southeast governors:
First, a comprehensive census of all the Igbos in Northern Nigeria must be taken and paid for. This means that all Igbos including men, women, businesses and shops, school children and schools of attendance from primary schools to tertiary institutions, properties, residential addresses and itinerant visitors and business people who visit the north regularly, but do not live there. This proposed census must be stored in a database accessible to Igbo leaders to ensure proper accountability.
Second, an inventory or census of all the Hausas living among the Igbos in southern Nigeria must be conducted along with their cows.
Third, the videos and other evidence of Hausa terrorist threats must be preserved and archived for future use.
Experience has shown that the Hausas usually begin to carry out their nefarious acts against the Igbos well beyond their public pronouncements. The recent unprovoked and senseless killings of the Igbos in the north are pointed indications that another pogrom may be underway. The least the Igbos and the world should know is the number of our people the Hausas have killed or willing to kill again. Without a correct census of the Igbos living in the north, we cannot state with absolute certainty the number of people affected or likely to be affected by the genocidal threats by the Hausa youths.
Finally, the entire southern region of Nigeria must know that they are not excluded from these threats. According to Martin Luther King, “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.” It is evident that these currents threats are a continuation of the Hausas method of divide and conquer. First, they start with the Igbos and later the cancer metastasizes into other southern regions. This is the reason why these threats must be taken seriously by anyone who has lived long enough to know how the Hausas operate. Our past ugly history is about to repeat itself, every hand must be on deck to impress on the Hausas that no country has ever survived more than one pogrom. We remain watchful of the situation.
Respectfully,
Dr. Chris Ikeanyi
Los Angeles, California
correct write up- enough of these baseless threats
Baseless as the threats maybe, they need to be reprimanded, some group of hoodlums can’t just cause chaos with inciting statements and go free… The law show take cause and use them as deterrent to others.
“…the entire southern region of Nigeria must know that they are not excluded from these threats…”
Above statement is one of the most important truths in this matter. In the late 1980s and early 1990s I lived in Kaduna as a working professional, and witnessed some of the most brutal acts of terrorism against Christians and Southerners by Muslim militants and their Northern elitist sponsors. Almajiri terrorists on rampage never distinguished between Igbo, Yoruba, Akwa Ibom (of which I am), and other Southerners. We were all “infidels” deserving to die. Of course, Northern Christians were also fair game. They never even considered Yoruba Muslims as exempt from their acts of terror. Simply put, if you were a Southerner, better run and hide or be prepared to defend your life, even if you have to kill your attackers in the process.
From my personal experience therefore, I agree with the author that this is not an Igbo problem; other Southerners who think so are unfortunately delusional. I also think that Igbos and informed Southerners should do more to frame the issue as a national issue rather than an Igbo problem. I am doubtful that this will ever happen, as Southern politicians have only selfish interests rather than instincts for collective advancement. Northerners know and exploit this weakness we have in the south, and so the tragedy of Nigeria continues. A coordinated south can very easily define and enforce the terms of existence as a nation, or split from the failed experiment called Nigeria and let everyone go fend for themselves.
“…the entire southern region of Nigeria must know that they are not excluded from these threats…”
Above statement is one of the most important truths in this matter. In the late 1980s and early 1990s I lived in Kaduna as a working professional, and witnessed some of the most brutal acts of terrorism against Christians and Southerners by Muslim militants and their Northern elitist sponsors. Almajiri terrorists on rampage never distinguished between Igbo, Yoruba, Akwa Ibom (of which I am), and other Southerners. We were all “infidels” deserving to die. Of course, Northern Christians were also fair game. They never even considered Yoruba Muslims as exempt from their acts of terror. Simply put, if you were a Southerner, better run and hide or be prepared to defend your life, even if you have to kill your attackers in the process.
From my personal experience therefore, I agree with the author that this is not an Igbo problem; other Southerners who think so are unfortunately delusional. I also think that Igbos and every informed Southerner should do more to frame the issue as a national issue rather than an Igbo problem. I am doubtful that this will ever happen, as Southern politicians have only selfish interests rather than instincts for collective advancement. Northerners know and exploit this weakness we have in the south, and so the tragedy of Nigeria continues. A coordinated south can very easily define and enforce the terms of existence as a nation, or split from the failed experiment called Nigeria and let everyone go fend for themselves.