Igbos not going anywhere - - Iwuanyanwu inists

The Chairman, Council of Elders, Ohanaeze Ndigbo, Chief Emmanuel Iwuanyanwu, has made it clear that Igbos don't have any plan to secede from Nigeria.

Iwuanyanwu's comment comes following the break out of ethnic tension between some Yoruba and Igbo residents in Lagos State as part of the fallouts of the governorship election in the state.

There were several reports of thugs attacking voters perceived to be of South-East extraction as well as reported attacks in areas predominantly occupied by Igbos on election day in Lagos.

In his reaction, Iwuanyanwu condemned individuals fanning the embers of ethnic discord in Lagos, describing them as “political rascals.”

The Ohanaeze leader said this while speaking at a ceremony in Anambra State to commemorate Governor Chukwuma Soludo’s one year in office on Saturday, March 25, 2023.

Speaking further, Iwuanyanwu insisted that there is no war between Igbo and Yoruba in Lagos State while warning that the South-East will continue to be part of the Nigerian state.

“We are in Nigeria and we have invested in Nigeria. Our investments are so much. We are not going to take the pressure of people telling us to go. We are not going anywhere.

“I want to tell those in Lagos to realise that there is no war between us (Igbo) and Yoruba. They are just political rascals, and we’re going to handle them,” Iwuanyanwu said.

He added that Igbo elders had directed the secretary general of Ohanaeze Ndigbo to set up a commission of inquiry to find out property lost, saying “people are going to pay.”

He also revealed that he convened a meeting of the Ohanaeze Council of Elders worldwide on Wednesday, March 22, 2023, where the events in Lagos were assessed.

“I want to tell you that people who attended from our branches in America, Canada, Europe, London and Nigeria have resolved and I want those from Lagos to go home and tell those in Lagos,” Iwuanyanwu added.