As Nigeria marks the 24th anniversary of the June 12, 1993
election on Monday, the Afenifere has restated its call for the implementation
of the last national conference as a way out of the challenges facing the
country.
It noted that the nation has been wobbling and pretending
that its unity was settled since the annulment of the June 12 elections
believed to have been won by Chief Moshood Abiola.
The group in a statement on Sunday by its National Publicity
Secretary, Yinka Odumakin pointed out that all southerners are at the risk of
attacks by Almajiris and mujaheedins in the north following the quit order
issued to Ndigbo by some northern youths.
It argued that the refusal of the security agencies to
arrest the groups that asked the Igbo leave the north within three months,
indicated that the Arewa youths were merely voicing the position of the northern
political establishment.
Odumakin said, “We now mark another June 12 amidst an
October 1 quit order to Ndigbo by Arewa youths who have also secured
endorsement from the Northern Elders Forum, with the Arewa Consultative Forum
conceding what they called “the frustrations of the youth” with Ndigbo.
“While the primary targets of the Arewa youths’ quit order
are the Ndigbo residents in the North, we are not deceived that when the rubber
hits the road, the Almajiris and the Mujaheedin would pick and choose among all
southerners in the north for the baying of blood.”
By Adelani Adepegba
