24 May 2020 News Corner 1739 Views

Insecurity: Igbo Youths Threaten Suspected Terrorists To Vacate Southern Communities

Ikenna Orioha

To weather the torrent violence that debilitates the Southern communities, a socio- cultural Group, Igbo National Council, (INC) in collaboration with Self-determination Group, Pro-democracy and Human Rights Organizations, has threatened suspected Jihadist Terrorists and Mercenaries to vacate Community Forests, Towns and States in Igbo Land and other Southern Areas.

The group said the order for the suspected gunmen to leave the South starts from the 23rd of May, 2020 and threatened that failure to comply with the order they would have themselves blamed.

This threat is contained in a statement signed and issued by the President and Secretary- General of Igbo National Council, INC, Chilos Godsent and Zulu Ofoelue and made available to journalists in Owerri on Thursday.

According to the groups, “noting the recent inflows and illegal smuggling of persons suspected to be trained Jihadist Militant Terrorists and Mercenaries into Communities, Towns and States of the Southern Nigeria in large numbers within the past few weeks via Trucks and Trailers, we have keenly observed the responses, attitudes and body languages of some of these suspected trained Mercenaries at some points where they were intercepted. Thus, we strongly believe that something dangerous may be fishing”.

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It frowned that it is “very worried about the hidden motif of this clandestine movement of the suspected trained Jihadist Militants, Mercenaries and ammunitions into Southern Nigeria at this period of our existence”, saying “we use this medium to sound a note of warning to the sponsors of this project, the suspected Militant Terrorists and Mercenaries to have a rethink as they will be surprised on the level of resistance they will face”.

It added that no society is an Island nor has monopolistic power to annihilate others through terror or violence.

“We wish to inform these Mercenaries and their sponsors that no nation has a greater monopoly of violence over others and that Igbos are not known to be cowards and can never be cowards in the face of this threat to our collective existence and self-preservation”.

To maintain the peace and the cordiality Southern societies have been enjoying prior to the forceful creation of Nigeria, INC deemed it necessary to align with other Human Rights Groups to ask the suspected Jihadist Terrorists and Mercenaries to desert the areas or face their wrath.

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“Consequent upon the above, the Igbo National Council in alliance with other Self-determination Groups, Pro-democrcy and Human Rights Originations, therefore, give these suspected Jihadist Militant Terrorists and Mercenaries 21days with effect from 23rd May, 2020, to vacate our Community Forests, Towns and States and immediately go back to their States or Countries or have themselves to blame”, the statement warned.

They did not mince their words as they urge relevant authorities especially the security apparatuses: Police, Army, Civil Defence to deeply look into the insecurity holes to save lives of innocent citizens as the constitution says.

“We call on the Inspector General of Police to quickly set up a Special Joint Security Taskforce to properly search and scrutinize all Trucks, Trailers and Luxury Busses plying our roads in order to avert the avoidable calamity that may befall the South if these suspected Terrorist Militants and Mercenaries are allowed to strike”.