The prominent civil Rights Advocacy group – HUMAN RIGHTS WRITERS
ASSOCIATION OF NIGERIA (HURIWA) has accused President Muhammadu Buhari
of doing nothing whilst his officials and core Northern supporters have
embarked on massive anti-Igbo sentiments and adopting discriminatory
policies which may ignite genocidal attacks on Igbo people residing
outside their geopolitical region.
The Rights group has listed the Transportation minister Mr. Rotimi
Amaechi, and the police inspector general Mohammed Adamu as two key
officials that have by words and actions exposed the Igbo speaking
nationality to hate crimes even as the Rights group also listed the
Arewa Consultative Council (ACC); erstwhile chairman of Alliance for
Democracy (AD) Alhaji Adamu Song and erstwhile House of Representatives
member from Kano state Alhaji Junaid Mohammed as the reactionary
elements who are instigating possible genocide against Igbo by stoking
up hate-filled messages against the over 50 million Igbo speaking people
of South East of Nigeria.
The Rights group said the president should act fast as a statesman to
stop the trend to avoid a replication of Rwanda type genocide in
Nigeria. HURIWA said the trend has assumed a worrying dimension
demanding swift institutional response from the Federal government of
Nigeria to stop any genocide from happening.
In a statement by the National Coordinator Comrade Emmanuel Onwubiko and
the National Media Affairs Director Miss Zainab Yusuf, HURIWA has also
called on the United Nations and the Nigerian national security adviser
General Monguno (rtd) to interrogate the aforementioned anti-Igbo
campaigners to determine if there is more to it than meets the eyes
because according to the group, the quick, successive and sustainable
massive media attacks targeting the Igbo race and the anti-Igbo police
promotions by the Inspector General of police could be a pointer to a
bigger plots against the South East of Nigeria. “Why is Mr. President
cool and not asking the relevant question even when these hate filled
sentiments polluting the Media space emanating from members of his
perceived core Northern loyalists are potential grave threats to
national security”.
“There remains high suspicions that the minister of Transportation Mr.
Rotimi Amaechi may be doing the bidding of some rabid Igbo haters
because of his consistent umbrage of the South East of Nigeria including
his recent diatribe in which he seem to be saying that south east of
Nigeria has been expelled in his World of fantasy and is no longer a
part of Nigeria but in his phantom Biafra Republic. Why should a holder
of a cabinet level office be heard saying that the transportation
university is to be built in Daura because Daura is not in Biafra, Mali
or Nigeria? Mr. President should be worried about two possibilities
derivable from this diarrhea of the mouth unleashed against South East
of Nigeria by Rotimi Amaechi and these are as follows: Mr. president can
tell us if Rotimi Amaechi knows where Biafra is located since he knows
that Daura is not a part of Biafra or Mr. president may do well to
investigate his minister to ascertain if he is one of the sponsors for
the creation of Biafra which according to him is already in existence
since he exhibited a great amount of esoteric knowledge about the
demographic make ups of his BIAFRA.
Secondly, Mr. president should find out if Rotimi Amaechi’s outburst is
meant to provoke a Rwanda type genocide against millions of Igbo who
live and do their legitimate business in the North of Nigeria living
side by side in peace with their Northern hosts and brethren and the
Igbo nationality who in the last two decades have suffered all kinds of
violence and killings by some religious fanatics at any slightest
provocation including the slaughter of the 74 year old woman trader in
Kano state some few years back in which the Kano state governor set the
killers free.”
“Mr. President should also be worried that officials of Arewa ethnic
nationality have begun systematic anti-Igbo campaigns with the objective
of creating a general atmosphere of hatred towards the Igbo race in the
guise of stopping them from aspiring to be elected president of Nigeria
in 2023. These series of well-orchestrated and formidably funded media
campaigns by the body and some key Northern individuals if not moderated
can instigate genocide against Igbo.”
“Again, in the midst of all the media attacks, the Inspector General of
police Mohammed Adamu then took the fight against the South East of
Nigeria or Ndigbo to a strange dimension by denying the South East of
Nigeria of equity and equality in the upgrading of police commissioners
in what appears to be a continuation of the divergent levels of targeted
anti-Igbo sentiments that are brewing in the North.”
“The president must note that the skewed promotions by the IGP against
the Igbo offends the Federal character principle of the constitution in
section 14(3) and is discriminatory which is against section 42 of the
Nigerian constitution as follows:”
Section 14(3) states: “The composition of the Government of the
Federation or any of its agencies and the conduct of its affairs shall
be carried out in such a manner as to reflect the federal character of
Nigeria and the need to promote national unity, and also to command
national loyalty, thereby ensuring that there shall be no predominance
of persons from a few State or from a few ethnic or other sectional
groups in that Government or in any of its agencies”.
Section 42 states: “(1) A citizen of Nigeria of a particular community,
ethnic group, place of origin, sex, religion or political opinion shall
not, by reason only that he is such a person:- (a) be subjected either
expressly by, or in the practical application of, any law in force in
Nigeria or any executive or administrative action of the government, to
disabilities or restrictions to which citizens of Nigeria of other
communities, ethnic groups, places of origin, sex, religions or
political opinions are not made subject; or (b) be accorded either
expressly by, or in the practical application of, any law in force in
Nigeria or any such executive or administrative action, any privilege or
advantage that is not accorded to citizens of Nigeria of other
communities, ethnic groups, places of origin, sex, religions or
political opinions. (2) No citizen of Nigeria shall be subjected to any
disability or deprivation merely by reason of the circumstances of his
birth. (3) Nothing in subsection (1) of this section shall invalidate
any law by reason only that the law imposes restrictions with respect to
the appointment of any person to any office under the State or as a
member of the armed forces of the Federation or member of the Nigeria
Police Forces or to an office in the service of a body, corporate
established directly by any law in force in Nigeria.”
HURIWA said the President as the Commander-in-chief of the Federal
Republic of Nigeria should realise that the primary duty of government
is to protect lives and property of the citizenry and therefore the
unambiguous gathering political storm against the Igbo speaking people
by government officials and self acclaimed supporters of President
Muhammadu Buhari should be stopped now to avoid monumental violence been
unleashed on the people of South East of Nigeria especially those who
live in the North of Nigeria.