The pan-Yoruba socio-cultural organization, Afenifere, has called on security agencies to apprehend individuals behind the ‘Igbo Must Go’ campaign circulating in Lagos State.
This call to action follows a recent post by a pro-Lagos government account, @Lagospedia, which urged Igbos in Lagos and other Southwest states to relocate their businesses within a month.
The controversial post read, “Lagosians and every Southwest stakeholder should prepare for the massive protest of #IgboMustGo from August 20th to 30th. They have one month from now to leave and relocate their businesses from all Southwest states. We urge all Yorubas living in the Southeast to return home.”
In response, Lagos State Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu distanced himself and the state government from the campaign, condemning it as an attempt to sow discord between the Yoruba in the Southwest and other tribes.
Afenifere’s National Publicity Secretary, Jare Ajayi, issued a statement on Saturday reassuring Igbos and other Nigerians living in Yorubaland that they should not fear being forced out of the region. Ajayi dismissed the threat, lamenting that the provocative campaign aimed to create disaffection between the Igbo and Yoruba communities.
The statement read, “Those being called to leave the Southwest are bandits and unscrupulous herders making life difficult for our farmers and rural women. Our Igbo brothers and sisters living in Lagos and the Southwest should not fear expulsion. We are all Nigerians.”
Afenifere called on security agencies, especially the police, to arrest those behind the unpatriotic campaign, as detailed in the LagosPedia post. The statement emphasized that only those with criminal intentions need fear the law, regardless of their ethnicity.
“It is on record that the Lagos State Government, like other governments in the Southwest, strives to provide for all citizens without regard to tribe, religion, or any other distinction. It is insensitive and mischievous for anyone to incite ethnic hatred, especially at a time of heightened tension in the country,” the statement continued.
Afenifere reiterated its call for restraint and urged protesters to cease their activities to minimize losses.
