Biafra agitators, Arewa youths may end up in jail –Osinbajo

Acting President Yemi Osinbajo on Sunday insisted that Nigeria is indissoluble and that those agitating for Biafra from South-East and northern groups that gave Ndigbo quit notice risk jail term for violating Nigeria’s laws.

Osinbajo stated this when he met with traditional rulers from the South-East at the Presidential Banquet Hall, Abuja, on Sunday as part of his consultative meeting with leaders from South-East and the northern region over the agitation for Biafra and quit notice to Ndigbo living in the North.

“I want to repeat that both the agitations for secession and the ultimatum to leave the northern states are wrong and a violation of our Constitution. Our Constitution says in Section 2 that Nigeria is one indivisible and indissoluble sovereign state to be known by the name `The Federal Republic of Nigeria’.

“That is the law of our country. Let us not be in any doubt about the fact that the Federal Government is committed to ensuring that our country remains united. And, anyone who violates the law in the manner such as we are seeing all over the place will be met with the full force of the law.

“The reason why it is so is because for Nigeria’s unity, enough blood has been spilled and many hundreds of thousands of lives have been lost.’’

He went further to say that many Nigerians having made supreme sacrifices for the unity of the nation that it will be “wrong for men and women of goodwill in this generation to toy with those sacrifices that had been made.”

Read also: Osinbajo accuses church of promoting corruption

While the Acting President maintained that Nigeria must not be allowed to experience civil conflict again, he advised that government must be sensitive to the cause of agitations by the various young men across country.

“Many have to do with perceived marginalization; some have argued that safety in the different zones has been compromised.

“But I want to say the only way to make things right is to do things right. And, it will be wrong of us to approach even our grievances by threatening to disobey the laws or by threatening the integrity of our nation.”

Osinbajo will continue his consultative meeting on Monday with the traditional rulers from the North.

 

 

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