Mr. Vincent Egechukwu Obeta, a lawyer, has, on behalf of Igbo
people resident in the North, filed three lawsuits before the
Federal High Court in Abuja, and the Economic Community of West
African States (ECOWAS) Court to compel the Inspector-General of
Police (IGP) to arrest within seven days members of the Arewa Youth
Consultative Forum (ACYF), led by Mr. Yerima Shettima.
The lawyer announced the filing of the suits in a world press
statement made available to our reporter. In one of the lawsuits,
Mr. Obeta is seeking an Order of Mandamus of the Federal High
Court, compelling the IGP to arrest Mr. Shettima who, in July,
issued a quit notice to Igbo people based in the North.
The second is a fundamental rights enforcement suit filed at the
Federal High Court against Mr. Shettima, the IGP and the Federal
Government. The seeks to enforce the rights of the Igbo to move
freely throughout Nigeria and to reside in any part of the country
as guaranteed by Section 41(1) of the Constitution.
The third is a fundamental rights enforcement suit, filed at the
ECOWAS Court, against Mr. Shettima, the IGP and the Federal
Government.
Mr. Obeta said should the IGP fail to comply with the Order of
Mandamus to arrest Mr. Yerima, if granted by the Federal High
Court, he will approach the International Criminal Court (ICC) in
The Hague, The Netherlands, to press criminal charges against them.
One of the charges, he said, will be the aiding and abetting of a
second genocide against the Igbo in the North.
“My criminal suit for such second genocide against Ndigbo in the
North will be filed against Shettima, the IGP, the Attorney-
General of the Federation (AGF), Professor Ango Abdullahi and
Professor Yemi Osinbajo as the Acting President of Nigeria when the
threat of a second genocide against Ndigbo in the North was
issued,” he explained.
He added that the IGP, AGF and Professor Osinbajo will be
charged before the ICC as for deliberately neglecting to arrest and
prosecute Professor Abdullahi, Mr. Shettima since the issued the
quit notice.
The lawyer warned that if it becomes necessary to head to the
ICC on account of the IGP’s refusal to comply with the Order of
Mandamus, he will be left with no option than to press charges
against those behind the 1966 genocide against the Igbo in the
North.
Mr. Obeta noted that the AYCF has suspended the quit notice, but
warned that the suspension cannot, in law, banish the grave offense
the group committed.
“Nothing short of such arrest and prosecution will suffice to
settle the three suits as filed. It is no longer news that the
cynical silence and manifest bias of the Federal Government and its
agencies since the treasonable threat against the Ndigbo was issued
have encouraged and opened a floodgate of hate speeches and songs,”
the lawyer said.
He observed that the Igbo in the North and indeed, all around
the country, have been victims of cynicism, oppression, and extreme
marginalization since the end of the Nigerian Civil War. He equally
noted that the Igbo have been regularly killed by northerners.
Despite the atrocities against them, Mr. Obeta said the Igbo
have remained law-abiding and have continued to contribute, through
their enterprise, to the socio-economic development of Nigeria.
He accused the Federal Government of shirking its responsibility
of protecting the Igbo and actively encouraging hostility towards
them.
“The 1966 massacre of the Igbo in the North, was not only
condoned but was celebrated by eminent Northerners, who, indeed,
gloated openly over the gruesome event. The 1966 genocide against
the Igbo in the North has, since the end of the Civil War, been
swept under the carpet to the extent that it has been banned by the
Federal Government from being mentioned in history lessons in all
Nigerian schools. Furthermore, it is even not allowed to be
mentioned in public and any such mention otherwise is regarded by
the Nigerian state as treason,” claimed Mr. Obeta.
The lawyer contended that since 2015, when the current
government took office, the Igbo complaints against repression and
marginalization have been equated with treason. This, he said, has
seen defenseless civilians killed by soldiers, especially at
Onitsha, Anambra State. He pointed out that a recent Amnesty
International report stated that at least 150 unarmed civilians and
have shot dead in Onitsha by soldiers since 2015.
“It is extremely distressing that coming out of all the recent
discourse across the Federation, (which Discourse has been ignited
by the ongoing agitations by Ndigbo), Professor Yemi Osinbajo and
all other eminent / elder statesmen have obscenely remarked that in
as much as Alhaji Yerima Shettima’s quit notice to Ndigbo in the
North is condemnable, the ongoing agitations by the same Ndigbo
should stop forthwith.
That is, they mean that the treason committed by Alhaji Shettima
is a befitting response to the agitations of Ndigbo, which have
since the end of the Civil War been equated to treason in any
event,” said Mr. Obeta.
He also called on the US President, UK Prime Minister, President
of China and other world leaders to pay attention to the plight of
the Igbo in and use their influence to end the persecution.
Mr. Vincent Egechukwu Obeta, a lawyer, has, on behalf of Igbo
people resident in the North, filed three lawsuits before the
Federal High Court in Abuja, and the Economic Community of West
African States (ECOWAS) Court to compel the Inspector-General of
Police (IGP) to arrest within seven days members of the Arewa Youth
Consultative Forum (ACYF), led by Mr. Yerima Shettima.
The lawyer announced the filing of the suits in a world press
statement made available to our reporter. In one of the lawsuits,
Mr. Obeta is seeking an Order of Mandamus of the Federal High
Court, compelling the IGP to arrest Mr. Shettima who, in July,
issued a quit notice to Igbo people based in the North.
The second is a fundamental rights enforcement suit filed at the
Federal High Court against Mr. Shettima, the IGP and the Federal
Government. The seeks to enforce the rights of the Igbo to move
freely throughout Nigeria and to reside in any part of the country
as guaranteed by Section 41(1) of the Constitution.
The third is a fundamental rights enforcement suit, filed at the
ECOWAS Court, against Mr. Shettima, the IGP and the Federal
Government.
Mr. Obeta said should the IGP fail to comply with the Order of
Mandamus to arrest Mr. Yerima, if granted by the Federal High
Court, he will approach the International Criminal Court (ICC) in
The Hague, The Netherlands, to press criminal charges against them.
One of the charges, he said, will be the aiding and abetting of a
second genocide against the Igbo in the North.
“My criminal suit for such second genocide against Ndigbo in the
North will be filed against Shettima, the IGP, the Attorney-
General of the Federation (AGF), Professor Ango Abdullahi and
Professor Yemi Osinbajo as the Acting President of Nigeria when the
threat of a second genocide against Ndigbo in the North was
issued,” he explained.
He added that the IGP, AGF and Professor Osinbajo will be
charged before the ICC as for deliberately neglecting to arrest and
prosecute Professor Abdullahi, Mr. Shettima since the issued the
quit notice.
The lawyer warned that if it becomes necessary to head to the
ICC on account of the IGP’s refusal to comply with the Order of
Mandamus, he will be left with no option than to press charges
against those behind the 1966 genocide against the Igbo in the
North.
Mr. Obeta noted that the AYCF has suspended the quit notice, but
warned that the suspension cannot, in law, banish the grave offense
the group committed.
“Nothing short of such arrest and prosecution will suffice to
settle the three suits as filed. It is no longer news that the
cynical silence and manifest bias of the Federal Government and its
agencies since the treasonable threat against the Ndigbo was issued
have encouraged and opened a floodgate of hate speeches and songs,”
the lawyer said.
He observed that the Igbo in the North and indeed, all around
the country, have been victims of cynicism, oppression, and extreme
marginalization since the end of the Nigerian Civil War. He equally
noted that the Igbo have been regularly killed by northerners.
Despite the atrocities against them, Mr. Obeta said the Igbo
have remained law-abiding and have continued to contribute, through
their enterprise, to the socio-economic development of Nigeria.
He accused the Federal Government of shirking its responsibility
of protecting the Igbo and actively encouraging hostility towards
them.
“The 1966 massacre of the Igbo in the North, was not only
condoned but was celebrated by eminent Northerners, who, indeed,
gloated openly over the gruesome event. The 1966 genocide against
the Igbo in the North has, since the end of the Civil War, been
swept under the carpet to the extent that it has been banned by the
Federal Government from being mentioned in history lessons in all
Nigerian schools. Furthermore, it is even not allowed to be
mentioned in public and any such mention otherwise is regarded by
the Nigerian state as treason,” claimed Mr. Obeta.
The lawyer contended that since 2015, when the current
government took office, the Igbo complaints against repression and
marginalization have been equated with treason. This, he said, has
seen defenseless civilians killed by soldiers, especially at
Onitsha, Anambra State. He pointed out that a recent Amnesty
International report stated that at least 150 unarmed civilians and
have shot dead in Onitsha by soldiers since 2015.
“It is extremely distressing that coming out of all the recent
discourse across the Federation, (which Discourse has been ignited
by the ongoing agitations by Ndigbo), Professor Yemi Osinbajo and
all other eminent / elder statesmen have obscenely remarked that in
as much as Alhaji Yerima Shettima’s quit notice to Ndigbo in the
North is condemnable, the ongoing agitations by the same Ndigbo
should stop forthwith.
That is, they mean that the treason committed by Alhaji Shettima
is a befitting response to the agitations of Ndigbo, which have
since the end of the Civil War been equated to treason in any
event,” said Mr. Obeta.
He also called on the US President, UK Prime Minister, President
of China and other world leaders to pay attention to the plight of
the Igbo in and use their influence to end the persecution.