The apex Igbo socio-cultural organisation, Ohanaeze Ndigbo Worldwide says the people of the South-East region are agents of development and not destruction.
President-General of Ohanaeze Ndigbo Worldwide, Prof. George Obiozor, stated this on Thursday during a courtesy visit to Lagos State Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, at the Lagos House, Marina.
Obiozor also advised Sanwo-Olu to ignore the rumour that members of the proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra were plotting to attack Lagos, noting that it was a ploy to distract the governor and his administration from providing good governance for all residents of the state.
The PUNCH had earlier reported that Lagos State Commissioner of Police, Hakeem Odumosu, on Monday said the command was putting measures in place to forestall attacks on soft targets in the state by IPOB. The secessionist group led by Nnamdi Kanu has since denied the allegation.
Speaking in Lagos on Thursday, in his address titled, ‘Violence in any part of Lagos State is violence on all of us’, the President-General of Ohanaeze Ndigbo Worldwide said Ndigbo cannot indulge in any act that would harm the harmonious peace and cordial relationship between Igbo and Yoruba, especially in Lagos, which he described as the second home of several Ndigbo.
Obiozor said, “Today, the leadership of Ohanaeze Ndigbo Worldwide, in the company of Igbo Elders and Leaders in Lagos, are here to pay you (Governor Sanwo-Olu) a solidarity visit and to further reassure you that Ndigbo are not violent in nature, neither are we are known for acts of violence anywhere we live.
“The constant and periodic dangerous insinuations, rumour, gossips and callous statements that Ndigbo in Lagos or any part of Yoruba land contemplates or instigate violence in Lagos or any part of Yoruba land; we wish to state clearly that anywhere this dangerous rumour or statement is emanating from is aimed to cause division, crises and conflict amongst us.