Questioning what the Igbos in Lagos have done to warrant the brutal attacks, destruction of their businesses and killings in the state, Ohanaeze Ndigbo called on the Lagos State Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu and the President-elect, Bola Tinubu, to wade into the ethnic profiling of the Igbos in Lagos, and stop the atrocities in the state.
South-East socio-cultural organisation, Ohanaeze Ndigbo Worldwide has called on the Nigerian government and the Lagos State government to immediately stop the continued ethnic profiling and attacks on the people of the South-East region living in Lagos.
Questioning what the Igbos in Lagos have done to warrant the brutal attacks, destruction of their businesses and killings in the state, Ohanaeze Ndigbo called on the Lagos State Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu and the President-elect, Bola Tinubu, to wade into the ethnic profiling of the Igbos in Lagos, and stop the atrocities in the state.
The organisation in a statement signed and made available to newsmen on Monday by its National Publicity Secretary, Dr. Chiedozie Alex Ogbonnia, condemned the statement of the Director of Media and Publicity of the All Progressives Congress Presidential Campaign Council, Bayo Onanuga, where he issued what he tagged “a last warning to Igbos” in Lagos never to interfere in Lagos politics.
Ohanaeze Ndigbo stated that “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.
“A few days ago, Mr. Bayo Onanuga, the spokesperson for Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, issued a “last warning" threat to Igbos in Lagos State warning them to stop “interfering” with politics in the state. Onanuga added that “this year 2023 should be the last time they should interfere in Lagos politics, stating that “the state belongs to Yorubas" and “let there be no repeat in 2027” and that the “Igbos are not Lagosians but mere strangers from another ethnic group".
“Onanuga maintained that “Igbos are merely tolerated in Lagos”. Without remorse, Onanuga insisted, “I owe no one any apology for addressing the existential threats of my Yoruba stock", insisting that “I am after all, first of all a Yoruba, before being a Nigerian".
“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 Igbos in Lagos, “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 “We are ready to fight the Igbos 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 Igbos in Lagos cannot have their PVC is that they are 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 Igbos in Lagos.”
The organisation further stated that “In yet another development, a notorious Lagos thug, Musiliu ‘MC Oluomo’ Akinsanya, threatened that “Igbos who will not vote for the APC in the governorship election to 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 18, 2023, many Igbos 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.”
Ohanaeze Ndigbo therefore warned that “The atrocities against the Igbos 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 Igbos 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 Igbos have embraced Nigeria with great enthusiasm, open-mindedness, hospitality, entrepreneurship, creativity and patriotism. The question on every lip is what have the Igbo done?”