Secession: Arewa youths ask UN to pronounce IPOB a terror group

By Henry Umoru

ABUJA—NORTHERN youths under the aegis of Coalition of Northern Groups yesterday issued another threat, calling on the United Nations (UN) to as a matter of urgency, pronounce the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB)  a terrorist organization.

This is coming one month after the same group gave the Igbo  notice to leave the north before the  1st of October, 2017.

Addressing Journalists yesterday  in Abuja, the Arewa youths also called on the UN to intervene, by initiating processes for a peaceful referendum, saying that it is the only option to finally settle the Biafran issue.

In a letter addressed to the UN and dated 12th of July, 2017, which the groups made available to Journalists yesterday,   they stressed that since the end of the Nigerian civil war, Igbo have intermittently continued to taunt and rebel against other parts of the country, by demanding to secede and form an independent country, adding that they are reopening old wounds by calling for violence and anarchy.

According to the group, the popular Kaduna Declaration that they should leave the north was not a call to violence, but a precaution.

Speaking on behalf of the coalition, its coordinator, Shettima Yerima, said: “Not withstanding all the efforts by the Acting President and responsible regional leaders, Nnamdi Kanu, leader of IPOB, remains undaunted and even intensified his violent divisive campaign which is the main issue of contention.

“Their continued action is a clear signal that they are committed to breaking away from the Nigeria federation which buttresses our earlier concerns.

“Worried by the recent threats, we became concerned that Kanu has finally crossed the boundaries of Nigerian laws and has blatantly breached international laws that specifically frown at the use of terror to achieve a goal.

“We are calling on the UN to invoke the relevant statuses to which Nigeria is a signatory to pronounce Kanu and IPOB as a terror outfit, proscribe their activities and initiate criminal actions against them.

“Since it is becoming all the more obvious by the way IPOB and Kanu enjoy massive support from the Igbo back home that the issue of the drive for Biafra nation is still a boiling one, we urge the UN to intervene by initiating processes for a peaceful referendum as the only option to finally settle the Biafran issue.”

The letter the Coalition of Northern Groups made up of fourteen northern associations wrote and addressed to the Resident Coordinator, United Nations, read in part, “To prevent the impending war and genocide being incited by Kanu’s IPOB, we urge the international community to look deeply into the evidence we have attached here and make a necessary decision in line with what international law and the international criminal court laid down as precedents in dealing with people and groups that openly call for war and genocide.”

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