Southeast town unions write Trump, UN over Almajiri

...allege ethnic cleansing plot
By OBINNA EZUGWU

The Association of Southeast Town Unions (ASETU), has written to the office of the United Nations Secretary General and the United States President, Donald Trump over what it calls ‘ethnic cleansing and land grabbing agenda in Eastern Nigeria.’

The group which in the letter signed by its national president, Chief Emeka Diwe; National Secretary, Chief Gideon Adikwuru, as well as presidents of the respective town unions of each of the five Southeast states: Chief G.U. Mgborukwe, Abia State; Chief Jimmie Asoegwu, Abambra; Chief Monday Ikokwu, Imo State; Chief Ugochukwu Akpa, Ebonyi State and Barrister Paully Eze, Enugu State, said it was strange that despite the nationwide lockdown imposed by the Federal Government, able bodied men from the North of the country were being ‘snuggled into the Southeast in droves.’

The group said there was possible agenda behind the movement, alleging possible land grabbing grabbing and even ethnic cleansing.

“It has come to our attention that able bodied young men from Northern Nigeria are being smuggled into the South East and eastern part of the country in droves. This is in spite of the nationwide lockdown, the ban on interstate travel and the 1000 kilometers distance between many parts of the north and the south on roads which are manned by Nigerian security agencies,” the letter reads.

“The volume of people arriving, the age of the people arriving, and the frequency and timing of their arrival in spite of the ban on interstate travel, due to the Covid-19 situation, indicates that this is a coordinated effort masterminded by an unknown group

“In the last 5 years a number of bizarre events have occurred including the bizarre over polarization of the country’s Security Council membership towards people from the north, the numerous reports of helicopters dropping off packages in the middle of forests in lgbo land in the middle of the night and other bizarre occurrences. Now we have the strange arrival of able bodied young men in such a coordinated fashion. These bizarre occurrence can only make sense if there is an equally bizarre plan afoot.

“This letter is to alert you that, should there be any seemingly random attack in the South East and eastern part of Nigeria, it is not at all random but part of a carefully choreographed attack that appears to have been carefully planned over the years and, in an insidious military fashion, is being executed to take advantage of the confusion and weakness caused by the Covid-19 situation. It is not clear who the chief proponents of this agenda are but it is clear these are important people of means in and outside the government. Building on the menace of herdsmen that have terrorized many in the eastern part of the country, this additional effort joins in furthering the agenda of dispossessing people of their lands and forcing a different religion and lifestyle on them

“We in the South East and lgbo land will not allow this to happen. We urge you to advise the Federal Government of Nigeria not be a supporter of this initiative and not to acquiesce to it by omission or commission. The Government of Nigeria must identify all those that are part of this sinister plot and put an end to it immediately. If these plans are not evil in nature, why would this secret group of northerners that are masterminding this be obsessed with land in the South East for example when out of the 19 states in the north, 13 of them are larger than the combined land mass of the 5 South East states (29, 525 Sq Km). These 13 states range from 29, 833 sq km (Kogi state) to 76,363 sq km (Niger state) in size. Only an agenda of domination, ethnic cleansing and land grabbing can explain this interest.

“We hereby ask the United Nations, the US government and the international community to do all in their power to halt this barbaric endeavor which has gone on under the watch of the Federal Government of Nigeria for years now. On behalf of all lgbo people in and outside the South-East of Nigeria, we thank you for coming to our assistance.”