Calls for a thorough investigation of the incident
Warns against indiscriminate arrests “as is common with Nigerian security agencies”
The Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) has condemned the killing of “travelling Northerners precisely Hausa”, in Edo State.
In a statement issued on Saturday – today, March 29 – by its Media and Publicity Secretary, Comrade Emma Powerful, IPOB said the “jungle justice meted on some of the purported Hausa hunters transiting from Rivers through Edo State to the north is regrettable as the indigenous Hausas are equally facing ethnic annihilation in the hands of the Fulani invaders.”
“The global family of IPOB wants our Southern brethren to understand that Hausas are never the problem of the indigenous people in Nigeria. Indigenous Hausa people are harmless, hardworking and accommodating, unlike the Fulanis ethnic group. Indigenous Hausa are being forced to flee their ancestral communities by the marauding Fulani terrorists and bandits. In that regard, IPOB is advising our Southern brethren not to attack the Hausa in the region but to treat them as victims of oppression,” the self-determination group contended.
“People should try and distinguish between the Hausa and Fulani ethnic groups. The Hausa are victims of subjugation and oppression in the hands of the Fulani ethnic group. The barbaric attack and murder by the civilians in Edo State must have been as a result of ongoing bitterness and frustration from unaddressed Fulani terrorists’ kidnapping activities that have been going on in Edo State.
“However, it’s rather ignorance or stupidity for any Northerner, whether Hausa or Fulani or any other, to enter any Southern bushes or forest for a so-called hunting. The reason is that Nigerians, particularly in the South, have been crying and protesting against fulani kidnappers. Many people have been victims of Fulani kidnapping daily.
“To make the matters worse, the Nigerian government and her murderous security forces fake ignorance of the kidnapping activities of the Fulani terrorists and bandits in the South. The result is that every Northerner, including the innocent one, has become a prime suspect.
“Nigerians are already provoked because the Nigerian government and her security agencies have since abandoned the people to their fate when it comes to providing security. Even when some of these Fulani kidnappers are apprehended and handed over to the police by the locals, with one call from Abuja, the Police will release the Fulani kidnapper suspect.
“As a result, the people have lost confidence in the Nigerian security agencies and become a law unto themselves. Having identified these purported Hausa hunters with some of their supposed hunting weapons, the anger and suspicion of the people led to the unfortunate lynching of the men.
“We, therefore, advise our Southern brethren to avoid ethnic profiling and attacks on all Northerners. All the Northerners are not harmful. But those fulani terrorists and kidnappers inside the bushes are a threat to all the indigenous people in Nigeria. Indigenous Hausa are facing threats of extermination as are the indigenous people of Biafra and the indigenous people of Oduduwa land.”
Reiterating its condemnation of the “unfortunate attack and killing of some purported Hausa travelling to the North for the Sallah celebration,” the IPOB called for a proper investigation into the case.
“We caution the police from raiding and indiscriminate arrests, which is the usual thing in the South. As the tempos are high, the leaders from the North and South must advise their people not to take laws into their own hands. Nigeria’s security is in a fragile state. There is a serious ethnic mistrust in Nigeria and any ethnic spark may leave Nigeria in a very sorry state.
“IPOB wants to exit Nigeria peacefully but not at the expense of innocent human blood. That is why we have constantly asked that Nigeria be balkanized peacefully. Nigerians know that Nigeria is an unworkable union forced to remain in a cage while fighting and killing one another to the entertainment of the British colonialists and their political savages.
“IPOB commiserates with the families of those men who were attacked and killed by a frustrated angry mob in Edo State. We call for calm as the authorities carry out investigation and prosecution of the culprits.
“But, we must stress that innocent Northerners should avoid entering the bushes in the South for whatever reasons, especially in this current fragile security situation in Nigeria. If you want to hunt or fish, please do that in the North. Fulani terrorists and kidnappers have already created suspicion in the minds of every Southerner about every Northerner with their unrepentant terrorist and kidnapping activities.”
IPOB further described the “barbaric jungle justice on these Hausa hunters” as regrettable, adding that its prayers and hopes are that “such an incident would not repeat itself anywhere in Nigeria until Nigeria is dissolved peacefully.”
