The Southern and Middle Belt leaders on Thursday in Enugu called for
immediate declaration of rampaging Fulani herdsmen as terrorists.
The call came at a summit tagged “Handshake Across the Niger”, where
demand for the immediate restructuring of Nigeria’s current political
structure also dominated discourse.
The event, co-organized by Igbo group, Nzuko Umunna and the Ohanaeze
Ndigbo attracted array of leaders from the South-West, South South,
Middle Belt and the host region, South-East.
Those from the South-West included Chief Olu Falae, Ayo Adebanjo,
former Governor Olusegun Mimiko, former aviation minister, Femi-Fani
Kayode, among others. The Middle Belt Delegation was led by ex-Plateau
Governor, Jonah Jang.
On the side of the South-East were the President General of Ohanaeze
Ndigbo, Chief Nnia Nwodo, former Governor Chukwuemeka Ezeife, Deputy
Governor of Imo State, Senator Enyinnaya Abaribe, who represented the
Deputy Senate President, Chief Ike Ekweremadu, representatives of both
the Enugu and Anambra Governors, among several others.
Various speakers at the event took time to warn that if the country
was not restructured immediately, it would be heading for doom.
Shortly after Nwodo began his speech, which bordered on
restructuring, an array of pro-Biafra apologists, who had stormed the
summit in their numbers, disrupted his speech with a shout of “No, No,
we want Biafra not restructuring; IPOB are not terrorists, herdsmen are
terrorists; Nnamdi Kanu we know, who are you?”
The women among the pro-Biafra agitators to the shock of guests,
pulled off their top wears, leaving only brazier, as a way of driving
home their point.
It took several minutes for the organizers to calm them down, with an
assurance that they would be allowed to present their case formally to
the summit.
The Ohanaeze President said the essence of the ‘Handshake Across the
Nigeria’, was to correct age-long misconception and suspicion among the
Igbos and the Yorubas.
He said there had existed mutual trust and brotherhood among the two
regions, which he said was demonstrated by Late Colonel Fajuyi, who laid
down his life late military head of State, Gen. Aguiyi Ironsi.
In a remark, Chief Adebanjo described President Muhammadu Buhari as
the problem of Nigeria, over his stance on calls for restructuring.
“Buhari cannot claim to be more Northerner than the Southerners.
Buhari is the problem of Nigeria by opposing restructuring. He is doing
this because his people are the beneficiaries of the lopsidedness of
Nigeria”, he said.
On herdsmen, Adebanjo said he had no trust on the ability of the
police to quell the activities of the group as the police hierarchy had
already described the killings as communal clashes.
He further lambasted President Buhari over his handling of the
killings, stressing that “even when someone in the caliber of Falae was
kidnapped, he didn’t utter a word. He has also refused to identify
Fulani herdsmen as terrorists.
In his remarks, Jang described the meeting as most timely and
appropriate, calling on the organizers “to extend the handshake across
the River Benue and all the minorities.”
He added that “the question of restructuring is not debatable and not in the hand of any individual not minding his position.”