Apex Yoruba indigenous organisation, Yoruba Council Worldwide (Igbimo Apapo Yoruba Lagbaye) has frowned at comments attributed to the chairman of the Ohanaeze Ndigbo Council of Elders, Chief Emmanuel Iwuanyanwu, saying “it is deliberately calculated at ridiculing the Yoruba race.”
The group in a statement signed by its president, Aare Oba Oladotun Hassan, said the comments were “ill-motivated and criminally seditious.”
Hassan said, ‘’We are inundated with calls and concerns on the part of his statement, especially when he exclaimed and threatened to deal with us -Yourba in their usual manner.
“Inevitably by this singular pervasive evil acts, we are suspicious of a repetition of another #EndSARS scenario that left behind tales of woes, deaths, massive destruction of life and property, regrettably we have come to a conclusion that his statement is a directive for commencement of brutal genocidal acts of ethnic cleansing in Lagos State and by extension other parts of Yoruba land at large in Nigeria.
“Chief Iwuanyanwu deliberately made this spurious comment ridiculing the Yoruba race in Awka, Anambra State last Saturday at the celebration of the one year anniversary of Professor Charles Soludo as the governor of Anambra State.
“While we are aghast to note with full knowledge of Chief Iwuanyanwu’s discrete plot to cause ethnic tensions and unabated attrition by hiding under a decoy of condemning individuals fuelling ethnic baiting in Lagos State, where he described we Yoruba as “political rascals.
“However, as usual Chief Iwuanyanwu pretentiously said there was no war between the Igbo and the Yoruba in the state, however, he was fully aware of the age-long evil machinations to invade and grab the political power base of Yoruba Land – Lagos State,’’ he said.
Hassan said they have witnessed rounds of spiral attacks from the Igbo residing and trading in Lagos with false ideology chorus claims of “Lagos is a No Man’s Land”.
The group added that the media had been awash with serial deadly venomous comments by some Igbo kinsmen to burn down Lagos,’’ especially as recently made by the Labour Party gubernatorial candidate in Lagos State, Mr Patrick Rhodes-Vivour aftermath of the 18th March Gubernatorial election.’’