Abdulazeez Suleiman, leader of the coalition of Northern groups which has told the Igbos to leave the region before October 1, 2017, has condemned Kashim Shettima and Nasir el-Rufai, Governors of Borno and Kaduna states respectively, for ‘siding with Igbos’. Suleiman, in a statement, said the governors were acting in the interest of their aspirations to be vice-president of Nigeria. He described their order of arrest as ‘nauseating’ while slamming them as ‘disgruntled northern political power mongers’.
“It appears that characters like elrufai have no limit on how low they can fall in their inordinate desire to achieve their long held dream of power grab at the expense of the peace, well being and stability of our country.
“We would like to assure elrufai and his ilks that we shall continue to expose their recalcitrant treachery and opportunistic proclivities. We also assure them that the drive for a peaceful and prosperous Nigeria in which the Igbo are not partners, will continue unabated,” he said.
Suleiman also clarified the groups’ quit notice to the Igbos saying it was not a call to violence. He said they only supported the Igbos agitation for their own country.
“We restate that we have never called anybody to violence and that people should discountenance the elements of fear and threat introduced by the distortions of merchants of mischief.
“We wholeheartedly endorse the moves made variously by our leaders to allay those fears and urge people to be peaceful and law-abiding while at the same time resolutely insisting on having the right thing done by allowing the Igbo to have and move to their dream country in accordance with the universal fundamental right to self-determination.
“We restate our determination and commitment to ensuring that the North will never partake in any contrived arrangement that would still have the Biafran Igbo as a component.
“We reiterate our call on Nigerian authorities and recognized international bodies such as the ECOWAS, AU and UN to hasten the initiation of the process for the final actualization of the Biafran nation and with it the excision of the Igbo out of the present federation,” the statement read in part.
Ademola Aderele
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