It is with great concern that the South-East caucus of the National Assembly addresses the alarming ethnic profiling of Igbos during the current #EndBadGovernance demonstrations nationwide.
In a statement issued on Friday by Senator Enyinnaya Abaribe, Senate caucus leader, and Rt Hon lduma lgariwey, House of Representatives leader, the caucus urged Ndigbo to refrain from joining the protests and to uphold the law.
The statement emphasized, “The South East Caucus of the National Assembly has noted with dismay the unfortunate and hazardous ethnic profiling of Igbos during the ongoing mass protests nationwide.
“It is important to note that the Igbo community, following the advice of their leaders such as the Governors, Ohanaeze Ndigbo Worldwide, parliamentarians, and other stakeholders in the private sector, had made a thoughtful and strategic decision not to partake in the current nationwide protests.
“The relative peace prevalent in the five South Eastern states is a testament to this decision. Hence, it is disheartening to see Igbos being wrongly targeted and vilified as the catalysts of the protests, evident in various statements (like the Igbo Must Go hashtag and a Twitter handle named ‘Lagospedia’ X) and videos circulating online.
“This unjust ethnic profiling is uncalled for and needs to come to an immediate halt. Similar profiling in the past resulted in numerous deaths in Nigeria from the 1950s leading to the tragic civil war from 1967 to 1970.
“In other parts of Africa, such profiling has resulted in genocide in Rwanda and xenophobia in South Africa. We cannot allow such a tragic fate to befall us again in Nigeria.
“We demand that the security agencies apprehend those spreading hate speech in accordance with the cybercrimes act.
“We urge all Igbos nationwide to refrain from participating in the protests and uphold the law.”