Spokesperson of the Northern Elders Forum (NEF), Hakeem Baba-Ahmed, has asked leaders from the Southeast to issue “a clear condemnation” of recent killings of northerners in the region.
According to Baba-Ahmed, Southeast leaders should demand arrests and prosecution from the Nigerian Federal Government.
He advised social media users to halt sharing gory contents from Tuesday’s attack on a cattle market in Abia State.
POLITICS NIGERIA recalls that the attack in Omuma-Uzo, Ukwa West Local Government Area (LGA) left at least eight northerners dead.
The Chief Imam of Umuahia, Alhaji Mohamed Baraya, said 20 cows were also shot dead by the invading gunmen.
In January, suspected members of the outlawed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) shot dead a herder and 30 cows belonging to an Igbo man in Enugu State.
These attacks are coming amid a recent directive by IPOB’s Directorate of State Services (DoS) headed by Chika Edoziem, that it has banned consumption of Fulani and Hausa cow meat. “The ban placed on Fulani cows will take effect in April 2022,” IPOB had said in January.
For elder statesman, Baba-Ahmed, “northerners need to feel safe in the Southeast”.
“Please stop sharing photos and videos of recent killings in the East. They serve no useful purpose. A more constructive approach is to demand condemnation, arrests and prosecution from the FGN, and a clear condemnation of leaders from the region. Northerners need to feel safe in SE,” Baba-Ahmed wrote on his known Twitter handle on Friday morning.
