The Chairman, Council of Elders, Ohanaeze Ndigbo, Chief Emmanuel Iwuanyanwu, has disclosed that there is no war between the Igbos and their Yoruba hosts in Lagos, saying however that the crisis is only with those he described as “Yoruba political rascals’.
He also condemned individuals fuelling ethnic baiting in Lagos State.
Iwuanyanwu spoke on Saturday at a ceremony to commemorate the one year anniversary of Anambra State Governor Chukwuma Soludo at the International Conference Centre in Awka, the state capital.
Speaking on the situation in Lagos and Nigeria, Iwuanyanwu said, “We are in Nigeria and we have invested in Nigeria. Our investments are so much. We are not going to take the pressure of people telling us to go. We are not going anywhere.
“I want to tell those in Lagos to realise that there is no war between us (Igbo) and Yoruba… They are just political rascals and we’re going to handle them.
“I want to make our people in Lagos know that on Wednesday, I called a meeting of Ohanaeze council of elders worldwide. And we express (sic) the events in Lagos.
“I want to tell you that we have resolved that never, never again can we allow anybody to take the life of any innocent Igbo person.
“All of us are going to fight the person, we are going to fight the person. Never again!
Iwuanyanwu further disclosed that elders had directed the Secretary General of Ohanaeze Ndigbo to set up a commission of enquiry to find out things destroyed, saying that “people are going to pay.”
He then said, “I want to tell you that people who attended from our branches in America, Canada, Europe, London and Nigeria have resolved and I want those from Lagos to go home and tell those in Lagos.”
The event was attended by former President Olusegun Obasanjo, former Anambra State Governor and presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP) Mr Peter Obi, former Cross River State Governor Donald Duke and other dignitaries.
