The apex Igbo sociocultural organization, Ohanaeze Ndigbo has sent a message to former President Olusegun Obasanjo.
The group on Sunday applauded Obasanjo for condemning the IgboMustGo hashtag.
An X handle named ‘LagosPedia’ had recently demanded the “the forced relocation of Igbo people from Lagos and other South West states within one month”.
The hashtag #Igbomustgo also called on all “the Yoruba living in the South East to return to the South West”.
The handle had said Lagosians and all South-West stakeholder should prepare for a massive #IgboMustGo protest from the 20th to 30th of August, 2024.
Condemning the agitation, Obasanjo had said those behind the call should leave Lagos State.
“Those saying that the Igbo must go from Lagos will be the ones to leave.
“I doesn’t believe that anybody in Nigeria should be driven away from any part of the country, asserting that, we own this country together,” Obasanjo said.
The National Publicity Secretary of Ohanaeze, Alex Ogbonnia, commended the former President for standing up against the orchestrated ethnic profiling, hate speech, incendiary, inflammatory rhetoric and outright demolition of Igbo properties in Lagos.
“The Ohanaeze Ndigbo Worldwide joins millions of patriotic Nigerians and all the members of the civilized community to commend His Excellency, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, PhD, GCFR, the former President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria on his recent remarks about the Igbo Must Go hashtag.
“Ohanaeze Ndigbo notes with grave concern the orchestrated ethnic profiling, hate speech, incendiary and inflammatory rhetoric and outright demolition of Igbo properties and liquidation of their sources of income in Lagos State since a few years now.
“In June 2023, a few days before the March 18, 2023 gubernatorial elections, a video went viral on social media showing Alh. Musiliu Akinsanya, commonly known as ‘MC Oluomo’, where he issued a threat to the Igbo residents of Lagos to “either vote for the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) or stay at home”.
“The points raised above is but a tip of the iceberg of what the Igbo encounter in Lagos on a daily basis,” Ogbonnia said.
The Ohanaeze spokesman also commended Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu of Lagos State for condemning the IgboMustGo slur.
Furthermore, Ogbonnia applauded the Yoruba sociopolitical organization, Afenifere for living up to expectations.
Ogbonnia said Afenifere, through their National Publicity Secretary, Jare Ajayi, called on “all Nigerians living legitimately in any part of Yorubaland to entertain no fear about their safety or be afraid of being forced out of the area”.
