Ohanaeze urges Buhari, Tinubu, others to address ethnic profiling of Igbos in Lagos

The apex Igbo socio-cultural group, Ohanaeze Ndigbo, on Monday urged President Muhammadu Buhari to address the ethnic profiling of Igbo people in Lagos State.

The group’s National Publicity Secretary, Alex Ogbonnia, who made the call in a statement in Enugu, also appealed to the Inspector-General General of Police, Usman Alkali Baba, the Department of State Services (DSS), Lagos State Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, and the President-elect, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, to wade into the issue.

There were reports of attacks against the Igbos in Lagos over their alleged undue involvement in the politics of the state.

Ohanaeze lamented that the Director of Media and Publicity of the APC Presidential Campaign Council, Bayo Onanuga, and his likes, who had issued threats against the Igbos in Lagos have not been prosecuted.

It appealed to the Federal Government to end the humiliation meted out to the Igbos in the state.

The statement read: “We, therefore, call on the President and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, the Inspector-General of Police, the Director of DSS, the Governor of Lagos State, as well as Bola Tinubu, and others, to wade into this ethnic profiling of the Igbo in Lagos.

“The question on every lip is what have the Igbos done? Ohanaeze wants to let the world know that Ndigbo have paid the ultimate prize for the unity of Nigeria.

“It is once more pointed out that Lagos was the capital of Nigeria at the Nigerian Independence in 1960; just like Abuja is today the capital of Nigeria.

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“It is of course highly inconceivable for a particular ethnic group to be excluded from the social, economic, and political activities in the federal capital territory of any country or in any part of the country for that matter.

“Instead of commendations and plaudits for the invaluable contributions of the Igbo in Lagos State, some miscreants have taken barbarism to the extreme by killing and maiming the Igbo because they came out to vote in a democratic election.

“This is because, Ohanaeze cannot forget the likes of Olusegun Obasanjo, Chief Ayo Adebanjo, the Afenifere, and indeed all those eminent Yoruba that stood on the side of justice, equity, and history by supporting Mr. Peter Obi of the Labour Party for the presidency of Nigeria in 2023.

“Neither are we unaware of the numerous Igbo sons and daughters whose spouses are from the Yoruba ethnic group. In the First Republic, a Fulani man was elected the Mayor of Enugu.

“In last Saturday’s governorship and House of Assembly elections, a Yoruba man, Chinasa Abiola was elected as a member of Abia State House of Assembly to represent Umuahia South State Constituency.”

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