Ethnic Profiling : South East national assembly caucus calls on security agencies to arrest and prosecute promoters of #Igbomustgo

Stephanie Clems

Members of the national assembly of south East extraction have frowned at the recent call by an X user (formerly Twitter) for the Igbos to exit the south west states in August.

Under the aegis the south east national assembly caucus, the lawmakers called for a stop of the ethnic profiling currently going on following the refusal of the Igbos to join in the protest.

In a statement signed by its leaders, Senator Enyinnaya Abaribe for the senate and Hon. Igariway Enwo for the house of representatives, they say efforts must be made to ensure that history does not repeat again.

The statement further notes that the zone paid heed to the calls of their leaders to stay away from the nation wide protest and urged the people to avoid the protest and remain law abiding.

Below is the full text

STATE OF THE NATION:
POSITION OF THE SOUTH EAST CAUCUS OF THE NATIONAL ASSEMBLY ON THE ETHNIC PROFILING OF IGBOS AGAINST THE BACKGROUND OF THE MASS PROTESTS ACROSS THE COUNTRY.

The attention of the South East Caucus of the National Assembly has been drawn to the unfortunate and dangerous ethnic profiling of Igbos in the ongoing mass protests across the country.

For the records, the Igbo nation, in obedience to the advice of their leaders- Governors, Ohaneze Ndigbo Worldwide, parliamentarians and others in the private sector- had taken a reasoned and strategic decision not to participate in the on-going nationwide protests. This is evident in the relative calm experienced in the five South Eastern states.

We are, therefore, surprised and disappointed, that Igbos are still made scapegoats, and targeted as instigators of protests, as shown in several statements (such as the Igbo Must Go hashtag and call by a certain ‘Lagospedia’ X(Twitter) handle) and videos seen online.

This dangerous ethnic profiling is unwarranted, and must stop. It was such profiling that led to the millions of deaths in Nigeria from the 1950’s to the unfortunate civil war in 1967 to 1970. Elsewhere in Africa it led to the genocide in Rwanda and the xenophobia in South Africa.

Such should not be our fate again in Nigeria.

We demand therefore that the security agencies bring to book the purveyors of these hate speeches in line with the cybercrimes act and criminal laws of the country.

We continue to appeal to Igbos across the country to stay away from the protests, and remain law abiding.

Signed:

Senator Enyinnaya Abaribe ( Leader of the South East Senate Caucus of the National Assembly.

Rt Hon Igariwey Iduma Enwo ( Leader of the South East Caucus of the House of Representatives.