New Telegraph

Declare travel ban to North before S’East, Ohanaeze tackles ACF

*Warns group to stop inflaming passion through incendiary comments

Kenneth Ofoma, Enugu

The pan-Igbo sociocultural organisation, Ohanaeze Ndigbo has expressed dismay over the decision of the Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF) to impose a travel ban the on South Eastern part of the country for Northerners.
Ohanaeze said ACF should have imposed such a travel ban on the entire North by other Nigerians considering the fact that the entire Northern region had witnessed and still witnessing the worst form of terrorism, banditry and near ethnic cleansing being perpetrated by killer herdsmen.
Ohanaeze was reacting to a statement credited to Chief Audu Ogbe, Chairman of ACF, asking the Northerners to be cautious of travels to the South East of Nigeria following the recent assassination of Alhaji Ahmed Gulak, a chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and former political adviser to former President Goodluck Jonathan, in Owerri, the Imo State capital over the weekend.
But in a statement released to journalists in Enugu on Tuesday by Chief Alex Ogbonnia, Publicity Secretary of Ohanaeze Ndigbo, the group said it was doubtful if Chief Audu Ogbe, a man who it said, has gained the respect of many as a detribalized northern patriot, could issue such a “sinister” press release.
Ohanaeze reiterated that the gruesome assassination of Gulak was very painful to all and has been condemned in very strong terms by Governor Hope Uzodinma, people of Imo State and indeed all the leaders of thought in Igbo land, including Ohanaeze.
The statement also commended the Chairman, Northern Governors Forum and the Governor of Plateau State, Mr. Simon Lalong, who the group said admonished that ‘the awful incident should be treated as a criminal act’, warning that politicization of issues surrounding the death of Gulak could lead to further violence in Nigeria.
The apex Igbo body conceded that for over a month, the South East which has been variously described as the most peaceful geopolitical zone in Nigeria was facing sophisticated security challenges but nevertheless should not be isolated from the security challenges facing the other parts of the country.

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