From: Femi Folaranmi, Yenagoa
The National Association of Seadogs, on Monday, urged the Federal Government to avert an impending disaster following the threat of expulsion of the Igbo people from the northern region by a Coalition of Northern Youths.
According to the group the threat must be treated with dispatch by arresting and questioning those behind the threat,
It challenged security agencies to act in the same swiftness with which they have handled similar cases in the past.
National President of NAS, Mr. Arthur Boje, in statement made available to newsmen, faulted the threat, saying that every Nigerian citizen was guaranteed the right under the Constitution to move freely, and to reside, acquire and own immovable property in any part of the country without molestation.
While condemning the threat in the strongest terms, the association chided the excesses of separatist groups such as the Indigenous People of Biafra and the Movement for the Actualisation of the Sovereign State of Biafra in their agitation.
NAS noted that it has always support and will continue to support the unity and continuous existence of the Nigerian State.
The statement read in part, “The National Association of Seadogs condemns in the strongest possible terms the ultimatum given by the so-called Coalition of Northern Youth Groups and the support that the group appears to have received from otherwise respectable quarters. Without a shadow of a doubt, every Nigerian citizen, regardless of their ethnic background, is guaranteed the right under the Nigerian Constitution to move freely, and to reside, acquire and own immovable property in any part of the country without molestation.
The text and tenor of the so-called Kaduna Declaration clearly violate these constitutional rights of the persons and ethnic group at which they are targeted. They are hateful, intemperate and clearly designed to incite violence and create instability and chaos in the Nigerian State. We, therefore, urge the Federal Government, the security agencies and all other relevant authorities to match their words of rebuke with the appropriate action and vigilance to tackle, defuse and hopefully prevent this impending disaster, lest we see a return to the pogroms of the 1960s.
“It is critical that in handling this, the government must be even-handed, so as not to create or foster the impression that those responsible for the ultimatum are either untouchable or tacitly supported by the government. This matter must, therefore, be treated with the same swiftness and professionalism that has been applied by the security agencies in other cases. The National Association of Seadogs equally condemns in the strongest possible terms the excesses of separatist groups such as the IPOB and the Movement for the Actualization of the Sovereign State of Biafra.”