v Says: statement exhibits passion for state sanctioned violence against Ndigbo
The Association of South East Town Unions ASETU has reacted to a recent statement by President Muhammadu Buhari on the present nationwide state of insecurity in which he alluded to 30 month civic war against Ndigbo seen as a holocaust and tragedy in the history of mankind which was deleted by twitter and should not be evoked in the present situation in Nigeria.
In a statement issued in Owerri on Monday June 7 and endorsed by the union’s President Emeka Diwe and secretary Gideon Adikwuru, the union observed that by the war threat of the President he presents himself as an unrepentant hater of Ndigbo as his statement betrays his passion for state sanctioned violence against the people.
The statement inter alias reads “we are dismayed by the recent statement credited to President Muhammadu Buhari which alluded to the 30-month genocidal civil war against Ndigbo in discussing the present insecurity that has engulfed the nation. In the statement, President Buhari threatened to treat dissidents in the South East in the language of the very same genocide of 1967-1970, which after the Holocaust in Europe has become the greatest tragedy in the recorded history of mankind. It was a genocide that in its wake left no fewer than three million innocent Igbo men, women and children dead.
While we must state without equivocation that as enterprising and innovative people, resolving any question through violence has no place in Igbo culture, the current instances of arson, killings and destructions that have continued to recur in our land by yet-to-be-identified actors do not represent who we are. These occurrences have remained a source of worry to us, and the Federal Government owes us security, peace and safety. As an item on the Exclusive Legislative List, security of our lives lies in the hands of the Federal Government. We cannot secure ourselves because they have bluntly made any discussion on devolution of powers impossible. And the threat of annihilation we are now getting from the very same Federal Government which has failed to protect us from arsonists and killers is very unfortunate, to say the least.
What this demonstrates is that President Buhari does not disguise his hatred for Ndigbo anymore. Our people have come under incessant attacks by armed Fulani herdsmen, yet the Buhari-led Federal Government has not come to our rescue. Just last week, scores of communities were sacked in Ebonyi State and dozens of innocent Igbo people brutally murdered, yet no word has come from President Buhari, whose Government has seen the total exclusion of Ndigbo from all positions of relevance in Nigeria.
Even in the national security architecture, there is absolutely zero representation from the South East. A few days ago, Mgbuji, Ehe-Amufu in Isi-Uzo LGA of Enugu State was attacked by the very same herdsmen and over fifteen innocent and defenceless people were brutally murdered. President Buhari has not uttered a word. Rather, agents of the Government keep romancing openly with these killer herdsmen and bandits, and even pampering them and negotiating with them.
Nigeria is presently mired in serious challenges that are shaking the foundations of the country. The preoccupation of the President must never be violence or threat of another genocide against unarmed Igbo citizens. Buhari must drop his penchant for violence especially against Ndigbo and seek out ways to address the fundamental questions besetting Nigeria. The many agitations that have encircled Nigeria should present us with an opportunity to discuss and find a common ground.
We therefore demand that President Buhari withdraw the threat of genocide he has issued against Ndigbo and put off every arrangement for its execution and apologize to Ndigbo who are currently traumatized by the unpatriotic, divisive and unpresidential statement from the President. We further call on the United Nations, the African Union, the European Union and the Government of the United States of America to intervene and stop the impeding ethnic cleansing which the threat by President Buhari against Ndigbo will precipitate”.
