Emmanuel Iwuanyanwu, the Chairman, Council of Elders, Ohanaeze Ndigbo, has stated that there is no war whatsoever between the Igbos and Yorubas in Lagos State.
Iwuanyanwu who disclosed this on Saturday at a ceremony in Anambra State to commemorate Governor Chukwuma Soludo’s one year in office, also condemned individuals he described as political rascals for the ethnically charged rhetoric against Igbos in the State.
In the midst of the elections, particularly last Saturday’s governorship election, there were targeted attacks on voters of southeastern extraction.
“I want to tell those in Lagos to realise that there is no war between us and Yorubas. They are just political rascals, and we’re going to handle them,” Iwuanyanwu said.
“The elders have directed the secretary general of Ohanaeze Ndigbo, [Okey] Emuchay, to set up a commission of inquiry to find out things destroyed; people are going to pay.”
The Igbo elder stated that he convened a meeting of the Ohanaeze Council of Elders worldwide, who X-rayed the events in Lagos during the meeting held on Wednesday.
“I want to tell you that people who attended from our branches in America, Canada, Europe, London and Nigeria have resolved and I want those from Lagos to go home and tell those in Lagos,” he said.
“We have resolved that never again can we allow anybody to take the life of any innocent person. All of us are going to fight the person. Never again!”
The Ohanaeze leader asserted that southeastern natives were fellow Nigerians who had “so much” investments in the country. Reacting to the rhetoric ordering Igbo sojourners to leave other regions, he said, “We are not going anywhere.”