The United Nations has warned that the notice to quit issued by some Northern youth to Nigerians of Igbo extraction in the north is of serious consequence.
The warning is contained in a statement issued on Friday.
According to some UN experts, the hate song and audio in circulation on the internet and social media were also condemnable.
It would be recalled that some Northern youth under the aegis of Arewa Youth Consultative Forum ordered Nigerians of Igbo extraction living or staying in the North to leave before October 1, 2017.
In the order issued on June 6, 2017 during a press briefing, the youth said failure of the Igbo to obey the order would result in dire consequences.
The youth said they were irked by the agitation of the Igbo for a Biafran state while they still remained on their part of the Nigerian nation.
But in a statement issued on Friday, some United Nations human rights experts warned that the notice to quit and threat to life were condemnable.
According to them, the development was of “grave concern.”
Said the experts: “We are gravely concerned about this proliferation of hate messages and incitement to violence against the Igbo and their property, especially considering the previous history of such violence.
“The Government must be vigilant, as hate speech and incitement can endanger social cohesion and threaten peace by deepening the existing tensions between Nigeria’s ethnic communities.”
The human rights experts noted that some local and national figures, as well as some media representatives, had publicly denounced any form of hate speech and incitement, but said other officials still needed to follow suit.
“We are deeply concerned that some prominent local leaders and elders have not condemned the ultimatum, hate speech and the perpetrators,” the experts stressed.
“We call on the Government, media and civil society representatives, and local and religious leaders, to reject and condemn hate speech and incitement to violence unequivocally and in the strongest possible terms.”
The UN experts said any incidents of hate speech and incitement to violence had to be investigated and the perpetrators prosecuted and punished.
“This includes the people behind the ultimatum and those responsible for the creation, publication and circulation of the hate song and audio message,” they added.
The experts are Mr. Mutuma Ruteere, Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance; Mr. Fernand de Varennes, Special Rapporteur on minority issues, and Ms. Anastasia Crickley, Chairperson of the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination.
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