By; AMOS MATHEW; Kaduna
The Arewa Youth Consultative Forum(AYCF) has lambasted governors of Southern parts of the country, particularly Abia and Rivers for their “nonchalance over the killing of Northerners and destruction of their businesses and assets”.
This was contained in a media statement signed by the AYCF’s National President, Yerima Shettima.
Rising from its emergency meeting in Kaduna, the AYCF argued that unless these Southern governors assume that Northerners’ lives don’t matter, they have a duty to compensate the families of those killed in Abia and Rivers for no fault of theirs”.
The group said the that “the latest round of wanton attack on Northerners and destruction of their businesses, included multimillion naira worth of Trucks loaded with goods and the razing of markets where Northerners are majority, betrays either a deliberate provocation or possibly a planned ethnic cleansing agenda.
” We at the AYCF wish to reiterate that the Nigerian constitution guarantees the free movement and interactions amongst the citizenry, without let or hindrance.
“Consequently, we demand that the governors of the States where innocent Northern traders and businessmen were attacked for no reason should do the needful.
“Nigeria has passed that stage where organized attack on any ethnic group will definitely be resisted by men and women of conscience”, the AYFC thundered.
The Forum also urged the civil society to “rise to the occasion by drawing the attention of all relevant authorities and stakeholders to this brazen attack on innocent Northerners in Abia and Portharcourt.
” On our part, if nothing is done to address this wanton killings and destruction of Northerners businesses and assets in Abia and Portharcourt, we shall resort to all legal and constitutional processes to ensure that the law takes its full course.
” We wish to also seize this opportunity to remind these governors that Northerners lives matter and their systematic intimidation and attacks are uncivilised, provocative and totally unacceptable”
