NEF says Nigeria should not fight another war to keep Igbo in Nigeria as its leadership appears to support seccession

-Urges Northerners to return home from the South

By our reporter| The Northern Elders Forum (NEF) on Monday called out Igbo leaders over their refusal to condemn the excesses of secessionists in the South East and urged them to speak out in order to avoid another war in the country.

The Elders forum, who stated this through its spokesman, Dr. Hakeem Baba-Ahmed while briefing reporters shortly after a closed-door meeting in Abuja, stressed that the silence of Igbo leaders is no longer golden in the face of killings of Northerners in the region.

“The Forum has arrived at the difficult conclusion that if support for secession among the Igbo is as widespread as it is being made to look, and Igbo leadership appears to be in support of it, then the country should be advised not stand in its way,” Baba-Ahmed said.

According to NEF spokesman, Dr. Hakeem Baba-Ahmed, who also called on Northerners leaving in the South to return home if they feel threatened in the South, said the Forum have resolved not to allow any war in the country.

They, however, insisted that attacks and killings of Northerners and Federal Government employees and destruction of National assets must stop, adding those who carried out the heinous crimes must be arrested and prosecuted.

“It will not be the best choice for the Igbo or Nigerians to leave a country we have all toiled to build and a country we all have responsibility to fix, but it will not help a country already burdened with failures on its knees to fight another war to keep the Igbo in Nigeria.

“Until the Igbo decide whether it wants to secede or remain part of Nigeria, the law applies to it, and Federal and State Governors who have responsibility to enforce the law and protect citizens must enforce it,” Baba-Ahmed said.