Arewa Group to FG: Allow Igbos Have Biafra by Referendum So Nigeria Can Have Peace
- Some Igbos have been demanding a referendum to determine if the southeast wants to secede from Nigeria
- A northern group has now joined the calls, saying it supports the initiative if it will bring peace to the country
- A few days ago, a coalition of northern women also called on the federal government to conduct the referendum for Igbos
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Kaduna - The Coalition of Northern Groups (CNG) has called for a referendum for the Igbo to actualise the Biafra Republic and peacefully separate from Nigeria.
CNG spokesperson Abdul-Azeez Suleiman made the call in statement on Monday, June 14 seen by Legit.ng.
The group stated that only a referendum for Igbo exit from Nigeria can provide a final guarantee for a peaceful Nigeria.
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CNG says Igbos have been fully represented politically since 1979
The group disagreed that Igbos are marginalised in the political affairs of Nigeria, pointing out that the political position Igbo never held from 1979 to date was that of the presidency.
Part of the statement read:
“We insist on a referendum to take place across the country to agree on an immediate and permanent exit of the Igbo from Nigeria.
“We suggest that a referendum be organised, administered, and supervised by the United Nations, the African Union, and ECOWAS in the southeast with only its indigenes taking part in the process.”
CNG asks FG to relocate herders from south
Recall that the CNG recently asked the federal government to take immediate steps to evacuate all herdsmen currently in the south back to northern Nigeria.
Vanguard reports that the group said the call was in the light of the ban on open grazing by the 17 southern Nigerian states.
The group also said only ten percent of the Fulani herdsmen live and conduct business in the entire south.
In a related development, a group of women under the aegis of the Amalgamation of Northern Women Associations, staged a protest on Saturday, June 5, in Abuja, demanding a referendum to allow secession agitators to chose whether or not to remain in Nigeria.
The coordinator of the group, Hajia Hadiza Adamu, called on President Muhammadu Buhari and the leadership of the National Assembly to urgently call for a referendum to allow those who want to secede to do so without any war.
Adamu lamented that the secessionist agitation has turned the southeast region into a warzone, adding that northerners no longer feel safe there.
Meanwhile, northern food traders under the aegis of the Amalgamated Union of Foodstuffs and Cattle Dealers in Nigeria recently threatened to resume their strike and cut off food supply nationwide.
The group said it will take the decision due to the failure of the federal government to pay the N4.75 billion compensation agreed with them.
The traders, however, gave the government a three-week ultimatum to implement the signed agreement that led to the calling-off of their strike in March this year.
Source: Legit.ng
