…Asks Igbo leaders to stop killings of northerners in S/East
The Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF), has said it is planning to meet with leaders of Ohanaeze Ndi Igbo, Afenifere and South-South groups, in the wake of agitations for the break-up of Nigeria and other security concerns.
It, however, in the interim assured the security of Ibos living in the North and called on the South-East leaders to equally stop daily attacks and killing of ordinary northerners living and doing business in the South-East.
These were contained in a communique issued by ACF at the end of its National Executive Council (NEC) meeting which was held at its headquarters in Kaduna yesterday.
The communique, read by the Forums Chairman and former Minister of Agriculture, Chief Audu Ogbe, also identified the revival of nomadic education and local government autonomy as the panacea to security challenges bedeviling Nigeria.
The ACF expressed satisfaction with the recent stand of the South-East leaders and governors on the violent agitation for secession from Nigeria by the Indigenous People of Biafra, (IPOB) and Eastern Security Network, where they disowned the agitators.
Very soon, the Forum hopes to meet with leaders of Ohanaeze Ndi Igbo, Afenifere and South-South leaders to discuss the lingering issues in the country that have tended to pitch ethnic and regional groups against each other, he said.
According to Ogbe, the Forum commended two Northern governors, Senator Atiku Bagudu of Kebbi State and Professor Umara Zulum, of Borno, as State Chief Executives who have demonstrated unusual courage in their fight against terrorism in their States and urged other governors in the North to demonstrate similar bravery in the fight against insecurity that is ruining everything that the North has always stood for.
The Forum also “praised the gallantry of our fighting forces, who against all odds have continued to risk their own lives in the fight against banditry and insurgencies.
