Igbo youth group attacks Arewa over call for Abaribe’s arrest

The call by Arewa Youth Consultative Forum (AYCF) for the arrest and detention of Senator Enyinnaya Abaribe to balance out the remanding of Senator Ali Ndume by a Federal High Court in Abuja, has been condemned by a-Pan Igbo youth movement, the Igbo Renaissance Forum (IRF).

The AYCF, in a press statement released on Tuesday, had called on President Muhammadu Buhari to insist on the arrest of Abaribe who stood surety for Nnamdi Kanu, the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) after the court had ordered that Ndume be remanded in prison over his failure to produce the former Chairman of the defunct Pension Task Team, Abdulrasheed Maina, in court.

The IRF wondered why the AYCF should make such a call when it should know such cases are handled differently and that Abaribe had done the needful by applying to be taken off as Kanu’s surety.

In a statement signed by the International Coordinator of IRF, Nze Uhgo-Akpe Onwuka, on Wednesday 25, 2020, the group said it was baseless comparing Abaribe’s situation with that of Ndume.
“We wish to express our deepest disappointment at the grossly unfortunate call by the Arewa Youth Consultative Forum, AYCF, for the arrest of Senator Enyinnaya Abaribe following the order of a court to remand Senator Ali Ndume in Kuje Correctional Centre, over his failure to produce Maina in court,” the statement begins.

Continuing, it said:

“We want to unequivocally state that such a hatchet job by a youth organization is a terrible development at this stage of our national life.

“It is sad that Alhaji Yerima Shettima is still stuck in his tribal quandary, and has been so blinded to see things from objective and realistic national perspectives.

“It is sad and heartbreaking that instead of commending the court for taking such an action that would deter other looters in the Nigerian state, in line with the Federal Government’s push for zero tolerance to corruption, this youth leader veered dangerously off course and started making demands that ultimately makes corruption look like a noble venture.

“We would not hesitate to advise Alhaji Yerima Shettima to retrace his steps and cease from being used as a hatchet man.

Read also: Igbo youth group wants UK to cancel Kanu’s citizenship

“We call on President Muhammadu Buhari to take immediate actions to prevent the desecration of the judiciary by such unguarded and vexatious narratives from tribally sequestered minds.

“It is very pertinent to note that if such rhetoric is ignored and those who propagate such divisive and unintelligent narratives are allowed to go scot free, it would surely embolden such myopic and tribally twisted elements to rubbish the judiciary and other arms of government in future.

“The Igbo Renaissance Forum demands that Alhaji Yerima Shettima be made to withdraw his putrid statement which goes to paint the judiciary in a very terrible light.

“Comparing the case of Senator Enyinnaya Abaribe to that of Senator Ali Ndume is a classic case of comparing apples to oranges, and this can only happen where intelligence has been suspended based on pecuniary interests.

“Finally, we want to state that we would not stand by and watch hired hands raise questionable issues with the ultimate aim of targeting Senator Enyinnaya Abaribe for harassment.”

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