QUIT NOTICE: UN experts, FG differ on arrest of Arewa youths

Three United Nations (UN) experts have called for the arrest of leaders of the northern youth coalition who on June 6, ordered all Igbo living in the North to vacate the region on or before October 1.

This is coming against the position of the Nigerian Federal Government that the Arewa youths cannot be arrested.

The directive which was made by the UN experts on Friday came despite the fact that the October 1 quit notice has been withdrawn.
The Arewa youths had on Thursday, August 24, announced the withdrawal of the notice, but vowed it would continue to pursue its other listed demands up to the United Nations.

Among the demands that they vowed to continue to pursue include; that the Federal Government must label the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) a terrorist organisation.

It also asked that the leader of IPOB, Nnamdi Kanu should be re-arrested immediately and sent back to jail.

They are also insisting that a referendum be conducted to gauge the true acceptance or otherwise by Nigerians of a “Republic of Biafra”.
But Three UN experts, in a statement issued Friday in Geneva, called on the Nigerian government to arrest the leaders of the northern youths. They also demanded that those behind the hate song that allegedly disparaged Igbo origin be immediate fished out and arrested.

The UP experts are Mr. Fernand de Varennes, Special Rapporteur on Minority Issues; Mr. Mutuma Ruteere, Special Rapporteur on Contemporary forms of Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and related Intolerance, and Ms. Anastasia Crickley, Chairperson of the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination.

They said, “We are gravely concerned about this proliferation of hate messages and incitement to violence against the Igbo and their property, especially considering the previous history of such violence.

“The government must be vigilant, as hate speech and incitement can endanger social cohesion and threaten peace by deepening the existing tensions between Nigeria’s ethnic communities.”

While the UN human rights experts, accepted that some local and national figures, as well as some media representatives had publicly condemned any form of hate speech and incitement, they called on other officials to also follow suit.

Read also: Nnamdi Kanu may return to jail soon as FG directs court to revoke his bail

They said, “We are deeply concerned that some prominent local leaders and elders have not condemned the ultimatum, hate speech and the perpetrators. We call on the government, media and civil society representatives, and local and religious leaders, to reject and condemn hate speech and incitement to violence unequivocally and in the strongest possible terms.”

Specifically, the UN experts said “the people behind the ultimatum and those responsible for the creation, publication and circulation of the hate song and audio message,” had to be investigated, prosecuted and punished.

Recall however, that the Federal Government had recently through the Minister of Interior, Abdulrahman Dambazau, explained why it cannot arrest members of the coalition.

Dambazau had said, “The group that called themselves coalition of Arewa Associations that held a press conference in Kaduna where they gave October 1 ultimatum to the Igbos to quit the North as a response to what they termed as issue of separatist agenda of the IPOB and claim that there are lots of incitement from the Igbos against the northerners to which the Kaduna State governor responded that they should be arrested for what they reported… later claimed that the media quoted them out of context. I am very much aware that the DSS invited all of them, held a meeting with them to which they made a statement to the effect that what was reported in the media was not what they said.”

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