The Igbo group, Ohanaeze Youth Council Worldwide (OYC) has petitioned the United Nations (UN), demanding special protection for Igbo living the Northern part of Nigeria.
This, the group said, followed the threat to the lives and property of Igbo living in the Northern part of the country and a letter said to have been written to the Acting President, Yemi Osinbajo to allow the Igbo to secede.
The group, in its reaction to the letter by the North, said there was need for a referendum in Igboland for immediate determination of the fate of the people in Nigeria.
It said if the Arewa Youths in the North considered every Igbo person to be a member of the Indigenous People of Biafra, it meant too that every Northerner was a member of the terrorists group, Boko Haram.
The letter written to the United Nations was signed by the National President of OYC, Mazi Okechukwu Isiguzoro; National Secretary, Mazi Okwu Nnabuike; Deputy National President, Ambassador Arthur Obiora and National Publicity Secretary, Engr. Obinna Adobe.
The copies of the letter were forwarded to the Acting President, Yemi Osinbajo; United States Embassy in Nigeria; United Kingdom Embassy; Commonwealth of Nations and Amnesty International, among others.
The letter titled: “A Call For Emergency In Nigeria – Our Two-Point Demand” reads:
“It is with great concern that we alert the international community of the looming genocide against the Igbo in the Northern part of Nigeria, occasioned by a well-orchestrated, carefully thought-after plot by the Northern hierarchy, who are hiding under the Arewa Youths.
“Their latest ranting, which they packaged in a letter to the Acting President, has left no one in doubt as to their motive: a grand design to annihilate the Igbo race. This, they want to achieve so easily through the well-packaged false history, which they have now dished out to gullible minds in order to create a passionate hatred for the Igbo in the minds of their people and, thereby, easily achieve the October 1, 2017planned mayhem against our people.
“How else could one justify their attempt to stab history in the back by labelling the first military coup in Nigeria as an Igbo coup? How else could people twist history than their justifying the pogrom against the Igbo between 1966 and 1967, which eventually led to the civil war? In what measure can one justify the insult on our late leaders, in the persons of late Gen. Aguiyi Ironsi and late Col. Chukwuemeka Odumewgu Ojukwu?
“In Igboland, we have respect not only for the elders, but more so for the dead and it if is for that purpose that we chose not to go further into this matter.
“Truth can never be changed. However, we must let these youths and their pay-masters know that contrary to their claims, our people have made much more sacrifices for the unity of this country, starting from the late Owelle of Onitsha, Nnamdi Azikiwe.
“To also justify their planned killing of every Igbo man remaining with the Biafra agitation amounts to hypocrisy of the highest magnitude. May we remind them for over a decade now, Boko Haram did not just declare war on the Nigerian state but has gone ahead to seize territories, killed thousands, and rendered millions homeless, yet nobody has branded it an action signed by the entire North.
“Besides, like the Arewa youths pointed out in their hypocritical letter, the Biafra agitators have their demand for self-determination found in so many charters, including that of the UN, to which Nigeria is a signatory . Where does the Boko Haram derive its own right to be engaging in mass murder?
“Our point here, however, is not on the propriety or otherwise of the attempt by Boko Haram to take over every Nigerian territory or the Biafra agitation, but the difficult attempt by the Arewa youths to link every Igbo man with the activities of the IPOB (Indigenous People of Biafra). If it is so, suffice it to say that all of them are members of the Boko Haram sect.
“May we also state that contrary to their claims that Ndigbo were being accommodated in every part of the country, our people have continued to be slaughtered like chicken, especially in the North, without justifiable reason. The case of Mrs. Bridget Agbahime, a pastor’s wife who was murdered in cold blood, will speak against these youths. The manner her case was muzzled by the Kano State Government will make her blood to cry forever against her shameless murderers.
“We, therefore, alert your attention to another impending massacre of the Igbo, especially with the thick rumour of arms being stock-piled in the North in readiness for action. It is even more painful considering undenied claims that some security personnel were aiding the smuggling of these sophisticated arms through the porous land borders in the North.
“Suffice it to say, Sir, that the life of our people are now at a great risk. It does appear that the pogrom of the 1960s is here to repeat itself again. There are indications that they are only waiting for the whistle to be blown for them to unleash another round of terror on our people.
“Given the above, we urge the United Nations to beam its satellite on Northern Nigeria ahead of any eventuality that may befall our people. Considering the manner the security agencies have handled these endless threats, it is unlikely that they may protect our people when these marauders will strike.
“Secondly and very importantly too, having seen that the Igbo have remained the victims of this marriage called Nigeria, despite our sacrifices, we demand that the on-going Constitutional amendment will not be acceptable should it not make provision for a referendum. It is high time people were given freedom to decide whether they want to remain in a country where they are not loved, not wanted but hated with passion.
“The National Assembly should make no mistake of undertaking any further Constitutional amendment without an option for referendum. This is the only way to go and we urge the United Nations to mount all necessary international pressures on Nigeria to effect that very much needed amendment.”
