Bothered
by the civil disorder of the Indigenous Peoples of Biafra (IPOB) in the
South-east and South-south regions of the country, security stakeholders met at
the weekend in Lagos State to synergise on how to maintain peace.
The
stakeholders; Department of State Security (DSS), police, monarch and leaders
of the three major tribes in Nigeria, met at the palace of Ojora of Ijora land
and Iganmu Kingdom, HRM, Oba Abdufatai Oyeyinka Aromire.
The
group met and pledged to unanimously rise against any act that could cause
crisis, leading to disturbance of the relative peace in Apapa Iganmu.
Describing
the areas as cosmopolitan, because it has diverse ethnic group, they contended
that residents have cohabited peacefully and intermarried, as such, it would be
fair to allow IPOB crisis in the east to cause disaffection amongst inhabitants.
They
warned youths not to allow themselves to be used to foment trouble in the state
through the use of hate speeches.
The
Officer in-charge of DSS, Apapa office, Chuks Chukwumerije, said that all the
security agencies have mapped out plans to forestall the spread of the IPOB
crisis to Lagos.
He
warned people not to allow IPOB issue to infiltrate Lagos State, urging them to
maintain their peaceful coexistence.
His
words: “The activities of IPOB are causing disorder in the country. We must not
allow what is happening in Aba and Port Harcourt to spread to Lagos. We should
be mindful that Apapa is a cosmopolitan area, made up of many tribes. We should
see ourselves as brothers and refrain from inflammatory speeches.”
The
Divisional Police Officer (DPO) of Amukoko Police Station, a Superintendent of
Police (SP), Charles, warned that the police would not fold its arms and allow crisis
in any part of the state.
He
further said: “We know there are people in Lagos, who are sympathetic to IPOB cause,
but we want them to embrace peace, because security agencies are fully on
ground to ensure IPOB crisis doesn’t spread to Lagos.”
The
DPO of Badia Police Division,SP. Kayode Ayeni, appealed to religious leaders to
use their churches and mosques to preach peaceful co-existence among their
followers, and to ensure that the country remains one.
The
Mai- Kanuribe of Lagos and Seriki Hausa of Apapa,HRH, Alhaji Mustapha Mohammed,
urged all the leaders to shun ethnicity and prejudice.
Aromire,
warned the various ethnic leaders to shun discrimination. The Eze Ndigbo of
Apapa, distanced members of the Igbo community in Apapa, from the activities of
IPOB. He described Igbos in Apapa as businessmen and women, only interested in
eking out a living.
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