A leading Igbo socio-cultural group, Igbo Bu Igbo, has
condemned what it terms "the continued indiscriminate arrest and
persecution of political and business leaders of Igbo extraction by
overzealous security agents".
In a statement signed by Dr Law Mefor-Anueyiagu and Jude
Ndukwe, Chancellor and Head, Media Directorate, respectively, the group
stated that " With this latest arrest of Senator Enyinnaya Abaribe, it
has become indisputably obvious that Ndigbo have been deliberately
marked out for intimidation, harassment and, ultimately, perpetual
subjugation".
Continuing, the Igbo group said, while they believe in the
efficacy of the rule of law which also implies that no one is above the
law, "we will not accept a situation where our leaders are subjected to
random humiliation without recourse to decorum and constitutionalism".
"We call on good-spirited Nigerians, human rights
organisations and the international community, to take note of the
systematic use of state institutions to persecute opposition members and
those who hold divergent views from the government.
"Senator Enyinnaya Abaribe is a ranking Senator of the
Federal Republic, and, it is our belief that, if not a system where
things are done crudely and where persecution takes the place of
persecution of political opponents, the Senator should have been invited
rather than arrested in a manner executed to humiliate him.
"Let us assure those on this path of error, that, just like
it was with our leaders and people who have faced one form of
persecution or the other under this government in the recent past,
Ndigbo will never be intimidated to abandon their own. The era when our
common traducers used to pitch us against one another for their own
selfish interests is gone. Today, our common age-long persecution in
the country has taught us to be together and be there for one another no
matter the circumstances. It is therefore needless for any person,
group of persons and or institution(s) to continue picking on Igbo sons
and daughters in the hope that such victims of persecution would be
abandoned by their people; rather, such actions bind us even closer and
stronger.
"Senator Enyinnaya Abaribe remains one of our leading
lights not only in Igboland but also the entire country. We hereby
demand his unconditional and immediate release," the statement concluded
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