Ohanaeze, Afenifere, Balarabe knock Kwankwaso for backing anti-Igbo threat

The pan-Yoruba group, Afenifere and the Ohanaeze Ndigbo have condemned Senator Rabiu Kwankwaso’s opposition to the call for the arrest of northern youths, who said the Igbo should leave the North before October 1.

Prominent Nigerians and groups including Afenifere, Ohanaeze and the Kaduna State Governor, Nasir el-Rufai, have demanded the arrest of the youths by security agents.

But Kwankwaso was reported on Thursday to have opposed the call for the arrest of the youths. According to a national newspaper, the former Kano State governor in an interview with journalists in Abuja on Wednesday said the youths should be engaged in dialogue.

However, Afenifere and Ohanaeze, in separate interviews with The PUNCH on Thursday described the former governor’s position as unfortunate.

The Deputy Publicity Secretary of Ohanaeze, Mr. Chuks Ibegbu, who spoke with Punch correspondent in Enugu, said Kwankwaso’s position should be probed.

The Ohanaeze spokesman said, “Nobody is above the law so the security agencies should investigate him.
“We want to warn that those that are fanning the embers of disunity should desist from doing so, because, if at the end of the day, the country descends to anarchy, they will also lose out.”

Ibegbu added that Kwankwaso’s statement did not come as a surprise. “We have not forgotten that when he was governor, he stated that there was no need for more states to be created in the South-East. He said the land mass of the South-East would not support a new state, but he chose to forget the fact that state creation is not just about land mass but population.

He advised Kwankwaso, whom he said wanted to be President of Nigeria, to turn a new leaf.
The spokesman for Afenifere, Yinka Odumakin, said he was not surprised by the ex-governor’s utterances, noting that he had always been known for his bigotry.
Punch, June 23, 2017

 

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