We're not Miyetti Allah, we don't kill - Afenifere, Ohanaeze slam Garba Shehu
- The comparison of the Ohaneze Ndigbo and the Afenifere groups to Miyetti Allah by Garba Shehu, a senior special assistant to the presidency has met with a lot of condemnation
- On its part, the Ohaneze has said that Shehu has no basis or justification for such comparison
- Also, the Afenifere group decried the stance of the presidential media aide, rejecting to be seen at par with the northern association
The Ohaneze Ndigbo and the Yoruba socio-cultural group, Afenifere, have responded to the statement by Garba Shehu, a senior special assistant to the presidency on media and publicity, that compared them to Miyetti Allah.
Shehu had on Tuesday, May 7, urged Nigerians to see the southeast and southwest groups as having a lot in common with the Miyetti Allah association, Sahara Reporters reports.
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However, in reaction to Shehu's statement, Uche Achi-Okpaga, spokesperson of Ohaneze, decried the comparison, saying that there is no justification for it.
Achi-Okpagain his reply said: “There is no justification for such a comparison. It is a bad comparison.
“Ohanaeze is a regional body that is promoting the unity of the Igbo; so also is Afenifere to the Yoruba and the ACF to northerners. We also have the middle belt forum in the north-central and PANDEF for the south-south.
“You can never put Ohanaeze and Miyetti Allah on the same pedestal. These people are invading villages, killing people, and you are telling us that they are on the same page with Ohanaeze. There is no justification for that.
“This is an organisation that the Global Terrorist Index has described as the world’s fourth deadly terrorist organisation. These people are just negotiating with criminals. We are in a state of lawlessness.”
In a similar vein, Yinka Odumakin, spokesperson of the Afenifere, expressed shock over Shehu's stance.
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Odumakin said: “We are surprised that the spokesperson (Shehu) was talking like someone under the influence of hard substance. In Afenifere, we don’t kill, we don’t abduct people.
“How can you compare us to a group of people who have been killing in Enugu, Benue, Ogun and other states?”
Earlier, Legit.ng had reported that Shehu said that the Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association of Nigeria (MACBAN) was like the Ohanaeze Ndigbo and the Afenifere socio-cultural groups.
“The Miyetti Allah group is like Ohanaeze Ndigbo or the Afenifere. It’s just a cultural group,” he said.
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Source: Legit.ng
