Former Senate President, Senator Adolphus Wabara, has expressed profound dismay over the threats directed at Ndigbo living in the South West region of Nigeria.
The #IgboMustGo campaign has demanded that Igbo people relocate from Lagos and other South West areas by August 20, branding the threat as genocidal.
In a statement, Senator Wabara condemned the campaign as an attempt to force the Igbo community out of Nigeria. He described the threat as a severe overreaction and unjust retaliation against Ndigbo, particularly since they did not participate in recent nationwide protests against the President Bola Ahmed Tinubu-led administration.
Wabara, who is the Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), stated, “This came to me as a shock and a big surprise. Asking Ndigbo to leave South West is as good as asking us to leave Nigeria. I’m so surprised and shocked they could be making such a demand when yesterday, there was no single protest in the entire South East.”
He criticized the move as a misguided response to the perceived non-participation of Ndigbo in the protests.
“If at home our youths who are suffering the most did not join the protest against an administration headed by a Yoruba man, why then should we be punished? I rather think that Ndigbo deserve accommodation and not ejection by the West.”
Wabara emphasized the need for solidarity rather than division, pointing out that the South East had remained calm even when protests were widespread in other regions.
“In the South West there have been protests unlike South East where there has been no protest at all even when our son is not the President. So, it will be a disservice and dishonour to reward us with a genocidal threat to vacate South West. That means we are hated in this country just for being Igbo.”
He called on President Tinubu to ensure the safety of Ndigbo across Nigeria, urging South West leaders, particularly Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu of Lagos State, to protect the lives and property of Igbo residents.
“I call on the President and South West Governors especially Gov. Sanwo-Olu of Lagos State to ensure the protection of Ndigbo living in Lagos and other parts of Yoruba land.”
Wabara underscored that the Nigerian constitution guarantees every citizen the right to live anywhere in the country without fear of persecution.
“The constitution of Nigeria guarantees the right of every Nigerian to live in any part of the country without molestations,” he added.