The Coalition of Northern Groups (CNG) has taken a swipe at Governor Hope Uzodinma of Imo State over alleged unprovoked evictions and organised violations against northerners in the state.

In a statement signed by its spokesperson, Comrade Abdul-Azeez Suleiman, the CNG noted how armed detachments of the Nigerian Army, the police and assortments of armed thugs were unleashed by the Governor with clear orders to destroy, demolish, burn every structure and assets belonging to the peaceful northern settlers of three communities in Imo State from Thursday 27th to Friday 28th July, 2023.

The northern groups, while declaring that enough is enough, vowed that the North will no longer remain passive under such deliberate and sustained attacks and will henceforth be forced “to react coin for coin to every provocation and unwarranted attacks by the Igbo and other self-appointed enemies anywhere.”

The full statement reads:

The Coalition of Northern Groups (CNG) has taken stock of events unfolding in Imo State in the past two days, noting especially, with utter perplexity and concern, the official rampage on Northern settlements ordered by the State Governor, Hope Uzodinma.

We note how armed detachments of the Nigerian Army, the police and assortments of armed thugs were unleashed by the Governor with clear orders to destroy, demolish, burn every structure and assets belonging to the peaceful northern settlers of three communities from Thursday 27th to Friday 28th July, 2023.

CNG notes also that the embers of this hate campaigns and propaganda being pursued by Uzodimma and other regional and ethnic agitators were ignited and incessantly fanned by Nnamdi Kanu using the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) and other authors of mindless violence and separatism who see it as their duty to actualise what their fathers started in 1966, namely to exterminate northern leaders and cripple the North completely through the force of arms and terrorist tactics.

We are also aware that Nnamdi Kanu, Hope Uzodimma and other perpetrators of violence relentlessly pursuing this agenda of destruction and collective mayhem are fervently hoping it will engulf the entire country and bring about another civil war and mass killings and suffering of innocent people.

The latest organised arson in Imo State left in its wake thousands of shops and houses completely burnt, properties worth billions of Naira destroyed and looted and thousands of northerners living and conducting legitimate businesses forcefully ejected, displaced and deprived.

The state-sponsored arsonists who arrived without prior notice, heavily armed with assorted arms including an Armoured Personal Carrier (APC), boldily saying the the “northerners should leave their land”, sacked Nakede Number One and completely destroyed 1300 shops and houses with the over 2500 inhabitants displaced, dispossessed and run out of legitimate businesses.

At Abu Junction Ama Hausa, the largest Northern settlement with a population of 4000 settlers, the arsonists destroyed a total of 3500 shops, 1500 houses forced 150 persons back to the North while rendering thousands of others homeless with no means of livelihood.

Arungo Park, Onisha Road with total population of over 3000 was also attacked, completely sacked and the residents displaced.

It is noteworthy that both Abu junction and Nakede Number One which were sacked, have a history of 11 years of existence and Arugo Park six years.

As the representatives of various interest groups from Northern Nigeria, the CNG studied these coordinated attacks on the northern communities ordered by the Imo State Governor, with considerable restraint and maturity, to the point of condoning and accommodating several unreasonable, arbitrary, official violations and breach of the right of the northerner to live and thrive anywhere in the country.

The level of destruction, deprivation and displacement therefore has taken matters to a point whereby silence has become complicity and inaction no longer an option.

OBSERVATIONS

1. This gangsterism by Uzodimma has confirmed that all the unprovoked evictions, attacks and killings of northerners in various parts of the South-East are supported morally and politically by the vast majority of the pliant Igbo elites, politicians, traditional, cultural and religious leaders, business persons, and the larger population of this ethnic group.
2. They are also situations that feed on the cowardice and docility of the affrighted members of the bankrupt section of the elite that pose as Northern leaders today.
3. It is also complicated by the stubborn refusal of the northern settlers to relocate to the North where their safety and that of their property could be guaranteed.
4. It has also confirmed that most Northern leaders are afraid to speak up for the rights of Northerners to be protected from illegal harassment where they earn their living; their rights to places of business and worship consistent with their means and the elements of justice; and their rights to full protection when they live as minorities among other communities in Nigeria.
5. It has exposed the hypocrisy Northern leaders who prefer to leave the bulk of Northerners at the mercy of self-appointed enemies in the South while vigorously working to protect the interests of other Nigerians living as minorities in every part of the North.
6. That by his action, Uzodimma has clearly stood himself out as a sworn enemy of the North and Northerners and should henceforth be seen as such in any future relationships.

OUR RESOLUTIONS

Against the backdrop of these concerns and observations, the CNG, not wishing to remain silent or passive and allow things that affect the North and potentially cause greater instability in the country to continue unchecked, hereby takes the following key decisions:

1. We emphatically repudiate the gangster action of Uzodimma and deem the targeting of the northerner communities in Imo for vilification, systematic dehumanization, profiling, alienation or any action that will render them object of attack and persecution, not only immoral and illegal, but also abhorrent to our sensibilities and ordinary decency and therefore unacceptable.
2. We reiterate the call on Northerners living in Imo State and all unfriendly parts of the South-East to consider leaving the region for the sake of their lives and properties over policies pursued by the likes of Hope Uzodimma.

a. The call on the Northerners to retrun to the North was borne out of the realisation that their lives had been put at risk due to the recent actions perpetrated in Imo on the orders of the state governor.

b. It is also by worries about their well-being and the conviction that their safety can no longer be guaranteed and we would rather have them back in areas where their safety is guaranteed.

c. The bottom line is that their safety is far more important than their stay there. This is a country we all wish to keep together but not at the expense of other sections.

3. We call on the Federal Government to take immediate steps to disband all militias and armed groups in Imo and other parts of the South-East by resort to the use of force if needs be, to ensure that no group has the capacity to challenge the State in its prerogative to maintain law and order, and protect citizens’ lives and properties.
4. We call on the Inspector General of Police and the Nigerian Army Headquarters to interrogate the extent of involvement of their personnel in the commission of this dastardly act against peaceful everyday northerners in Imo State.

5.We demand for the establishment of a judicial enquiry that would be saddled with the responsibility of determining the quantum of loss of properties by northerners in the Imo attacks with a view to paying compensation due to each of the victims.

6. We warn Uzodimma and his ilk that the North shall no longer tolerate its people being profiled, attacked and killed, their properties destroyed by officials of government and state sponsored elements in the South-east with incidences of religious and ethnic profiling.
7. We warn that while the North continues to support other Nigerians particularly the Igbo, to benefit from its tolerance and accommodation, it will also demand other Nigerians to note that the laws of the land demand that every Nigerian lives and earns his legitimate living in any part of Nigeria without discrimination or molestation.
8. We warn the complacent section of the northern elite that their actions will not go unnoticed, and in the fullness of time, they will be held accountable to the extent of their docility and bankruptcy.

CONCLUSION

We are aware that the Uzodimma’s and other southern politicians have made an entire career out of demonizing and insulting the North and all it stands for.

Their fathers in the past have vilified the North, killed its leaders, scandalized its institutions and ridiculed its traditions and customs.

They have under various administrations tried to bring down the North by destroying its institutions, undermining its economic and social fabrics, and encouraging rampant social problems like armed robbery, kidnapping, prostitution, drug and substance abuse.

The CNG today declares enough is enough. The North will no longer remain passive under such deliberate and sustained attacks and will henceforth be forced to react coin for coin to every provocation and unwarranted attacks by the Igbo and other self-appointed enemies anywhere.

The North’s reticence in speaking out or taking action is not born of fear or ignorance of how to respond in kind. It is simply because of our respect for others and deep commitment to national integration.

Signed:
Abdul-Azeez Suleiman
CNG Spokesperson

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