peace meeting with the people of the state, and both sides
condemned the eviction threat issued by the Arewa Youth
Consultative Forum (AYCF).
The Arewa group had weeks ago issued a three months
ultimatum for the Igbos to vacate the 19 northern states. Its
threat followed sustained agitation for the secession of the
Igbo states of the Southeast Nigeria by the Indigenous
Peoples of Biafra, IPOB.
The eviction threat was widely condemned by different
groups and state governments across Nigeria.
A Maiduguri-based nongovernmental organisation, Borno
State Progressive Associations, initiated a meeting between
the host state and the Igbo Community.
Speaking at the meeting that was attended by government
officials, traditional chiefs and clerics, the chairman of
BOSPA, Asheikh Mamman Gadai, said his group initiated the
meeting because they believe in one and indivisible Nigeria.
According to him, the IPOB agitation was needleless and
should be condemned by the Igbos and other Nigerians.
He also said his group had also dissociated itself from the
threat of the AYCF whom he said did not act on behalf of
the northerners.
He said BOSPA stood by the earlier statement of the Borno
state governor, Kashim Shettima, who led in the
condemnation of the eviction threat of AYCF, a group he
said was “unknown”.
He appealed to the two groups to draw lessons from the
bitter experiences of the civil war, which he said had left
deep scar on the face of Nigeria.
“The Igbos are our brothers and sisters with whom we have
been living together peacefully and in harmony,” he said.
“Borno is the home for all Nigerians and we wish to assure
the Igbos that they are safe in Borno and they have nothing
to fear.”
The representative of the Shehu of Borno, Zannah Boguma,
went into memory lane to emphasise how the Igbos had
been part of the Borno history dating back to pre-colonial
days.
He said the Shehu of Borno wanted the Igbos to live freely in the state
.
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