The Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF) has cautioned the Igbos in South eastern Nigeria against maltreating northerners, warning that such could endanger the multi-billion Naira investment of the Igbo in the North.
ACF said the ongoing controversy in the East on issuance of identity cards to persons of northern extraction was uncalled for and estimated that the Igbos’ investments in Kaduna, Kano, and Jos alone amounted to about N45 trillion.
The Deputy Secretary-General of ACF, Abubakar Umar said this while addressing members of the South-South/South-East Arewa Coalition, who paid a courtesy call on ACF on Thursday.
According to him, statistics available to them indicated that the Igbos’ investments in Kaduna, Kano, and Jos alone amounted to N45 trillion and with such huge investments in just three States of the north, the Easterners have no reason to maltreat northerners doing businesses in the East, stressing that, “If the table turns, it could be disastrous to their investments.
“They may suffer for it, but we are praying for understanding among the entire Nigerians to accept themselves wherever they live to earn legitimate means of livelihood. We express our fear that if the north should embark on similar development by screening the Igbos in the northern region, it could lead to a crisis that may lead to undeserved division of Nigerians along ethnic or religious lines.
“Yoruba and Igbo people in Jos, capital of Plateau State lost N480 billion and N410 billion investments respectively to the 2011 post election violence. The South-South also lost N970 billion in the same crisis.
‘We have these statistics, so we expect the Igbos to treat our kinsmen, our brothers and sisters in the East as kings and Queens in view of the fact that they (Igbos) have more investments in the north than in the East.
“Take Abuja, the Federal capital territory, for example, the Igbos occupy over 73 percent of the land, so these are some of the reasons why they should be everybody’s keepers in their place,” Umar said.
The leader of the Coalition, Mallam Awwal Yusuf had earlier said that northerners were doing business amidst fear in the East and called on the ACF to intervene.
“This is because every trader or Muslim from the north is considered Boko Haram”.
Yusuf said the Arewa Coalition has taken to court the issue of identity card in order to seek justice and be freed from undue molestation in the hands of the people in the area.
“We are embarrassed with this issue of identity cards. Why should it be only traders or Muslims from the north that should be identified?.
‘We have taken the case to a court in Enugu, and we are hopeful that the State Governor, Sullivan Chime is ready to help us by sending his lawyer to stand for us”,he said.
The Secretary-General of the ACF, Col. John Ubah (rtd) also told the visiting northerners from the East that ACF was established to protect the whole north and its people.
He said whatever happened to any northerner anywhere was always considered a serious issue.
A subtle threat. Only now the Igbos want to affirm their supremacy in their homeland, the ACF is issuing threats of reprisal including the destruction of their investments and lives. Igbos wake up
The Hausa FuLanis are the real problem we have in Nigeria…. Tribalistic, self centered and egotistical tribe..everywhere they go they seek to dominate….y have they not attacked boko haram with such ultimatum to stop killing Christians in the north? The earlier we start making Muslim northerners uncomfortable in the south the sooner they will learn..sadly Christian northerners are not as violent as the Muslims if not we would have had a worse situation than we r seeing…..
We are getting there. You know christians are very slow to anger
Sent from my BlackBerry wireless device from MTN
This article is blatant rubbish meant yo cow our people from self determination. We don’t care about the so called southern investment in the evil and hostile North,their own investments in oil and Dangote group far outway our private houses that we built for accommodation.
Let them keep these houses but stay on their iwn wuth their evil terrorist children.We don’t care about lots of houses after all Gowon and Danjuma took our houses after 1967-70 genocide called civil war.
God will destroy the northern hegemony and liberate His people Ndigbo.
First I think am one of the few Nigerians that can speak the truth. Because of my ethnicity having hailed from a mixed minority group. Yet suffered some of the worst atrocities being born in the north because am christian. Most speakers say what they say based on tribal sentiments. First ACF have no business talking about, Kaduna, and Jos, Because these states don’t belong to them. Growing up in these places we and the indigenes of these states suffered intolerably from the hands of the Hausa Fulani, cause that is the group refereed to as ACF. The people of these states will rather all die, than allow the Hausa Fulani any hold in their lands. Say for instance the country comes to a split. Second The Biafran nation have no business talking about Oil unless they are referring to the only one in Abia. Because the people of the Niger delta will rather Die than share that resource with them.Nigeria is Splitting Up. And any wise man will know it is not splitting into three.