- Target:
- Muhammadu Buhari, Yemi Osinbajo, UN, António Guterres, AU, ECOWAS, EU, UK Parliament, AI Nigeria
- Region:
- Nigeria
On Tuesday, June 6, 2017, a coalition of youth associations from northern Nigeria issued a statement which has now come to be infamously known as "The Kaduna Declaration" in Kaduna asking fellow citizens of the Igbo stock from southeast Nigeria, to quit the north of Nigeria before October 1, 2017, as they (northern Nigerian youths) would commence "visible actions" which include to "reclaim, assume and assert sole ownership and control of ... landed resources currently owned, rented or in any way enjoyed by the ... Igbo in any part of Northern Nigeria.
“Consequently, officials of the signatory groups to this declaration are already mandated to commence immediate inventory of all properties, spaces or activity in the north currently occupied by the Igbo for forfeiture at the expiration of the ultimatum contained in this declaration".
Soon after this quit notice, a hate song composed in Hausa language encouraging the massacre of the Igbo anywhere they are found in the north of Nigeria went viral.
Apart from the fact that the quit notice and declaration to forcefully eject and take over properties belonging to the Igbo in northern Nigeria violate all known statutes of the United Nations guaranteeing the legal ownership of property and enjoyment of same by the owners anywhere in the world, these threats by youths of northern Nigeria have set the tone for genocide against the Igbo from October 1, 2017, hence, our petition for those behind the statements, songs and actions to be brought to book in order to nip the planned genocidal attacks in the bud.
The threats should not be taken lightly especially as notable leaders and elders of northern Nigeria have given their backing to the quit notice and hate song against the Igbo while the commoners have been celebrating same.
Our advice comes from the background of the fact that it was the same process and sequence as we are witnessing today that led to the pogroms against the Igbo people in northern Nigeria in 1966 leading to the Nigerian civil war and other mass actions against the people at several times in the past.
We hereby urge all relevant authorities both local and international to rise to the occasion and ensure such violence is not allowed to happen again because it has the possibilities of throwing the nation into another round of chaos more massive than the scale of a civil war.
Following the unlawful and ill-advised notice issued by Arewa youths of northern Nigeria to the Igbo people residing in that part of the country to quit on or before October 1, 2017, a hate song that has gone viral composed in Hausa language by a Hausa/Fulani singer encouraging the massacre of Igbos anywhere they are found in Nigeria, and the grave danger such notice and song portend to not only the Igbo people but also Nigerians in general, we seek, by this petition, the urgent actions of Nigerian authorities, the United Nations and the international community to immediately bring the authors of the hate speech and genocidal song to justice.
We call on the Nigerian authorities in particular to immediately embark on a global campaign particularly in northern Nigeria to ensure that these murderous plots against the Igbo race in Nigeria do not become manifest.
We by this petition also put world leaders particularly those of the United States, Germany, Britain, France and Israel among others on notice relating to these infractions.
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The Nigeria: Quit Notice to Igbo People: Stop Another Looming Genocide Now petition to Muhammadu Buhari, Yemi Osinbajo, UN, António Guterres, AU, ECOWAS, EU, UK Parliament, AI Nigeria was written by Nzuko Umunna and is in the category Civil Rights at GoPetition.