Jeff Amechi Agbodo, Onitsha
A Pan-Igbo International Organization, Igbos for Progressive Nigeria (IPAN) has expressed worry and regret on EndSARS protest which has been wrongly branded an Igbo agenda to cause disaffection.
The group said that the assertion was a wrong attribution by agents of destabilization of the country.
In statement signed by the President of IPAN, Mr Lawrence Onuzulike and the Group Media Chief, Mr Oliver Okeke entitled “a call to thread with caution’’.
It states: “IPAN condemns this in the strongest terms. The inciting insinuations from some people within and outside Nigeria are to push the youths especially those of Igbo extraction to take up arms and cause mayhem against other Nigerians.’’
“Those instigating violence are not speaking for Ndigbo, especially as they’re giving the impression that there is a hand of `Esau in the protest’ in the first place.
“Whatever be the case, we stand as representatives of the Igbos in our own right, to discourage our teeming youths from adhering to such a wicked insinuation.
“This is not the best time to point accusing fingers, but it is now becoming clearer, the true identity of the true enemies of the Igbos.
“Anyone, who claims he/she is interested in the wellbeing of the Igbos, should start by encouraging our brothers and sisters at home and abroad to return home and lend a helping hand in the development of the region.
“Any inciting statements or actions aimed against the lives of other people and destruction of infrastructure that are in the first place, grossly inadequate in the region or any region for that matter, can only mean that the perpetrators are our real enemies.’’
It adds: “Igbos are among the most traveled citizens in Nigeria, with a large percentage of their investments domesticated in other regions of Nigeria other than in Igbo land.
“Anyone who thinks he loves the Igbos should know that the best advice to give, even at the height of any provocation is certainly not to ask for destruction of life and property.
“We, therefore, call on our traditional rulers, community leaders and parents, to swing into action by calling their subjects, children and wards to desist from any action capable of creating tension and destroying life and property, wherever they may be, and no matter the owners of such property.
“We are a Pro Nigeria group of Igbo patriots working for the unity and progress of Nigeria; adept as disciples of `One Nigeria as a political philosophy,’’ the group stated.