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The Arewa Youth Consultative Council has commended the Federal Government for the arrest of the leader of the proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, Namdi Kanu.
The commendation is contained in a statement issued on Friday by the group’s National Director of Media and Communications, Isah Ismaila.
The group, in the statement, also commended the operatives of the State Security Service, SSS, over a raid on the self-acclaimed Yoruba activist, Sunday Igboho, leading to recovery of weapons during the operation.
The statement said: “It is greatly shocking to know that 7 AK-47 assault rifles; 3 Pump Action guns; 30 fully charged AK-47 magazines, 5,000 rounds of ammunition and other dangerous weapons are found in the residence of an acclaimed champion for self-determination.
“Are they meant for a violent insurrection against the Northern settlers in southwestern Nigeria?
“We must acknowledge that the North suffers from both internal and external security threat, but we’re confident that we shall gradually overcome.
“It is a pity that despite Northerners are being unnecessarily killed in the South in the name of agitations for a sovereign state of Biafra and the Yoruba Nation, some people are yet to see what the crime of Kanu and Igboho are.
“If the political and traditional stakeholders of the South cannot end this calculated killings of Northerners or cannot directly frown at this criminality; we would be left with no option other than to reconsider our doubts.”
“The unanswered questions about Nnamdi Kanu and Sunday Igboho is, why was there no condemnation from the almighty Ohanaeze Ndigbo, the southeast Governors Forum, South East Traditional Council, the Afenifere, the South West Governors Forum, South West Traditional Council and other influential stakeholders in the entire region?
“Why do they swiftly warns the Federal Government at the very moment Kanu was rearrested and Igboho’s residence was invaded?”
Conspiracy and recklessness, the director claimed, is becoming the new normal.
“Does anybody realize that an average Northerner has nothing to lose when the insult get to the unbearable point?
“Does anybody understand that if the North will do to the south half of what they do to Northerners; the whole world must shake?
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“Every day, we are forced to bitterly swallow insults and mourns painfully while others celebrate and justify the intentional harassment, disrespect and killings of our brothers in the name of ‘unknown Gun Men’.
“The bitter insult is how majority of their print and electronic media intentionally take sides with the perpetrators instead of our law enforcement agents that are equally killed by these agitators. Imagine how the majority of their Youths are defending these criminals because they believe their actions as ‘right and just’.
“We cannot stop any section of Nigeria to see Nnamdi Kanu and Sunday Igboho as their heroes but we hope; they shall all face the full wrath of the law over their crimes without fear, favor or compromise; for any reason.
“We equally demand that the perpetrators and sponsors of banditry, kidnappings and Boko Haram in Northern Nigeria should also be treated in the worst language they understand.”
According to Mr Ismaila, the Igbo and Yoruba don’t hold their representatives accountable for refusing to champion their struggle in the floor of the house.
This, he said, is the reason why northerners are always blamed.
“Northerners wish you no ills, they are the most sincere, tolerant and accommodating friends you can ever find all across Africa.
“As they wish you well, kindly stop the hate,” the statement noted.
The director appealed to the government to the Federal Government to provide a relocation solution for settlers and herders.
This, according to him, might ease the tension in the North and South.
He said: “We PRAY that, if the violence cannot end, the Federal Government should facilitate the safe return of every Northerner (herders, traders, and settlers) back to the North, while the Igbos and the Yoruba’s to equally relocate back to the south, pending on the outcome of the future and if there shall be a softer landing, we pray for a united, peaceful, stable and KO prosperous Nigeria.
“We shall continue to encourage Northerners to resist the temptation of blind judgment, hate, avenging the killings of our innocent brothers and anything that is against our moral, traditional and cultural values.
“All patriotic Nigerians are advised to commend the professionalism, patriotism and commitment of our security and intelligence agencies toward curbing crimes despite the overstretched criminal activities all across Nigeria.
“We remain patriotic Nigerians now and always,” the director concluded.
