The South East Caucus of the National Assembly on Friday decried what it described as dangerous ethnic profiling of the Igbos and sought an immediate end to it. The Federal lawmakers equally tasked the  security agencies bring to book the purveyors of these hate speeches in line with the cybercrimes act and criminal laws of the country. 


"The attention of the South East Caucus of the National Assembly has been drawn to the unfortunate  and dangerous ethnic profiling of Igbos in the ongoing mass protests across the country", the Caucus stated in a State of the Nation statement signed by its leaders Senator Enyinnaya Abaribe (Leader of the South East Senate Caucus and Rt. Hon. Igariwey Iduma Enwo (Leader of the South East Caucus of the House of Representatives.


The Caucus maintained that "This dangerous ethnic profiling is unwarranted, and must stop. It was such profiling that led to the millions of deaths in Nigeria from the 1950s to the unfortunate civil war in 1967 to 1970. Elsewhere in Africa it led to the genocide in Rwanda and the xenophobia in South Africa. Such should not be our fate again in Nigeria"


The Caucus  further appealed to Igbos to keep away from the #EndBadGovernanceProtest stressing that the Igbo nation, in obedience to the advice of their leaders- Governors,   Ohaneze Ndigbo Worldwide, parliamentarians and others in the private sector- had taken a reasoned and strategic decision not to participate in the on-going nationwide protests.


Excerpts from the statement reads:

STATE OF THE NATION:                        POSITION OF THE SOUTH EAST CAUCUS OF THE NATIONAL ASSEMBLY ON THE ETHNIC PROFILING OF IGBOS AGAINST THE BACKGROUND OF THE MASS PROTESTS ACROSS THE COUNTRY.

The attention of the South East Caucus of the National Assembly has been drawn to the unfortunate  and dangerous ethnic profiling of Igbos in the ongoing mass protests across the country. 


For the records, the Igbo nation, in obedience to the advice of their leaders- Governors,   Ohaneze Ndigbo Worldwide, parliamentarians and others in the private sector- had taken a reasoned and strategic decision not to participate in the on-going nationwide protests. This is evident in the relative calm experienced in the five South Eastern States.


We are, therefore, surprised and disappointed, that Igbos are still made scapegoats,  and targeted as instigators of protests, as shown in several statements (such as the Igbo Must Go hashtag and call by a certain ‘Lagospedia’ X(Twitter) handle) and videos seen online. 


This dangerous ethnic profiling is unwarranted, and must stop. It was such profiling that led to the millions of deaths in Nigeria from the 1950s to the unfortunate civil war in 1967 to 1970. Elsewhere in Africa it led to the genocide in Rwanda and the xenophobia in South Africa. Such should not be our fate again in Nigeria. 


We demand therefore that the  security agencies bring to book the purveyors of these hate speeches in line with the cybercrimes act and criminal laws of the country. 


We continue to appeal to Igbos across the country to stay away from the protests, and remain law abiding. 


Signed:

Senator Enyinnaya Abaribe ( Leader of the South East Senate Caucus of the National Assembly. 

Rt. Hon. Igariwey Iduma Enwo (Leader of the South East Caucus of the House of Representatives.