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The South-East Caucus of the National Assembly on Friday, condemned what it called ethnic profiling of the Igbo people of the South-East Nigeria for choosing not to join the ongoing nationwide #EndBadGovernance protests against hardship and hunger in the country, insisting that the development is dangerous and unfortunate.
The federal lawmakers from the South-East said the decision of the Igbos to abstain from the mass protests was informed by the advisory from the Ohanaeze Ndigbo, governors of South-Eastern States, Parliamentarians, and business leaders.
In a statement jointly signed by Senator Enyinnaya Abaribe (Leader of the South-East Senate Caucus of the National Assembly) and Rt. Hon. Igariwey Iduma Enwo (Leader of the South-East Caucus of the House of Representatives), on Friday, the South-East Caucus stated that: “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.
The Caucus added that despite the stance of the Igbos, it was surprised and disappointed that the race was still made scapegoats and targeted as instigators of the 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.
The statement went further, “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.
The Caucus recalled that 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, adding that 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”.
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