By Daniel Kanu (Assistant Politics Editor)
The apex Igbo socio-cultural organization, Ohanaeze Ndigbo, has cautioned against the attacks by some thugs threatening the Igbo in Lagos for exercising their civic rights to vote during last Saturday’s Presidential and National Assembly elections.
The group called for restraint, warning that the consequences would do no one any good if orchestrated.
In a press statement by the President-General of Ohanaeze Worldwide, Chief John Nnia Nwodo, which was made available to TheNiche, Ohanaeze harped on the need to escape what it called “the gathering storm’.
The statement read in part:
“Forty-eight hours after our elections, we still have no results. There is hardly any voter in Nigeria, who does not know the results of elections in his polling booth.
“The INEC server is down, yanked off by INEC. Conflicting results dominate the social media. The two major national parties claim contradictory victories.
“Returning officers in Rivers and Imo claim to be under siege, being executed by a minister and a governor respectively.
“Igbos in Lagos are being threatened for exercising their civic rights to vote.
“This morning, they were stopped from opening their market stalls in Oshodi. The Acting Inspector General of Police refused to pick my three calls to him.
“The Oba of Lagos remains quiet. The Governor of Lagos State makes no broadcast.”
The statement noted further that, “The safety of more than four million Igbos living in Lagos seems to be of no concern to him.
“The Jagaban threatens Igbos to relocate, if they do not vote for his party. Thanks to Afenifere for its salutary and comforting voice.
“The Commander-in-Chief, maintains an ominous silence. The International Community wonders what a country this is. Professor Yakubu Mahmood be warned.
“Remember 1966. Remember 1983. Our democracy was upturned on those two occasions for the action or inaction of our electoral commission.
“Governor Umahi, you cannot be Chairman of South-East Governors and remain unconcerned about the plight of Igbos in Lagos and unperturbed by the manipulation of our votes in the South-East. History is recording our action and inaction.
” I appeal to Igbos to remain calm and law-abiding while remaining resolute on our resolve to seize the moment of this election to change the character of our governance. May the Almighty God save our country from sliding into another crisis”.
Chief John Nnia Nwodo
President-General Ohanaeze Ndigbo Worldwide.