Amby Uneze in Owerri
The Chairman Council of
Elders of Ohanaeze Ndigbo, Chief Emmanuel Iwuanyanwu has made a passionate
appeal to youths and various agitators in the South East of Nigeria to sheath
their sword and allow elections to hold and peace to reign in the region.
Chief Iwuanyanwu who
was addressing a world Press briefing in Owerri lamented the indiscriminate
killing in the region and various parts of the country, saying that in the past
few months he has watched with deep grief the amount of innocent blood being
shed, properties belonging to governments, individuals been wantonly
destroyed.
He observed with dismay
the increasing threats by some youth agitators claiming to stop elections in
Igboland, warning politicians not to participate in the elections
for their dear lives while governors and government houses would be destroyed
and security agencies seen anywhere would be attacked and killed, adding that
such threats would not augur well for our people.
The octogenarian said
that the Council of Elders of Ohanaeze Ndigbo has been working tirelessly to
ensure the unconditional release of Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, noting that they will not
rest on their oars until Nnamdi Kanu gets his freedom.
According to him, Mazi Nnamdi Kanu and some of his supporters
including Simon Ekpa will attend in person at the Peace Summit or send their
representative, stressing that absolute peace is needed in the South East which
is what Igbos are known for.
He said that as
chairman Council of Elders of Ohanaeze Ndigbo, he has summoned an emergency meeting
of Ohanaeze Elders where the security situation of the South East was
critically examined.
The Ohanaeze Ndigbo
Elders Council Chairman expressed concern over the deteriorating security,
social and economic conditions noting that many school leavers, graduates spend
many years looking for employment without success while many businesses have
collapsed due to lack of infrastructure such as power.
Iwuanyanwu regretted
that for the first time in the history of Igboland, “we have witnessed Igbos
killing innocent Igbos for no just cause, regretting “when we recall that Igbos
lost over two million people during the Civil war, there is no reason why we
should shed more blood in Igboland.”
The Elder Statesman
appealed to the agitators and the youths to allow peace to reign by ensuring
that the elections in the South East are peaceful adding that the solutions
lies in peaceful decisions and negotiations.
He said that the Elders
Council has decided to hold a Peace Summit which will give the youths the
opportunity to air their grievances and promised that on behalf of the Elders
the issues will be resolved to the best of the their ability and assured the
youths that none of them will be victimised for participating at the Peace
Summit.
He noted that the
decision of the Elders have been communicated to the Secretary General of
Ohanaeze Ndigbo the Chairman Governor's Forum and the South East Governors so
that they will take various steps to arrest the situation.
''As a father of the youths
in Igboland and as the Ahaejiagamba Ndigbo, Grand Patron of virtually all youth
organisations in Igboland and Nigeria and as somebody who has valiantly served
Igbos in time of peace and in time of war, I appeal to all concerned to sheath
their sword and accept a ceasefire in order to allow elections to take place in
South East devoid of any bloodshed.
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