From Abdullahi Alhassan, Kaduna
The Northern Consensus Movement (NCM) has given Igbos a two-week ultimatum to leave Northern States if Eastern State Governors continue with their plan to forcefully relocate Northerners.
The group responded to complains filed under the leadership of Buba Abdullahi who were at the NCM office over the recent incident of demolition in the market.
The NCM is a coalition of 592 Northern groups. Its National President, Dr. Awwal Aliyu Abdullahi, said the ultimatum was in response to the recent eviction of Northerners from the Lobbanta Garke Cattle Market in Umunneochi Local Government Area of Abia State by Governor Alex Chioma Otti.
Dr Awwal, said the NCM was calling on the Governor of Abia State to withdraw his statement of 14 days’ ultimatum given to the Northerners that are doing their legitimate businesses in Garke Cattle Market, Abia state, as eviction treat will not urger well for both side considering the huge number of Easterners residents and doing their legitimate business in the North without any harassment or intimidation from any northerner.
“The action of the Governor will create room for suspicion of conspiracy theory in the cooking to create civil unrest in the country that may lead to triggering our Northern youths to start thinking of taking revenge,” he said.
Dr Abdullahi said Igbos own businesses worth billions of naira in Kaduna, Kano, Katsina, and all other Northern States.
“Igbos owns Plazas, shops, houses, farm lands in the North with a population of over 10million while Northerners residents in the Eastern Region are not more than 2million running minial businesses,” he said.
The NCM president called on President Bola Tinubu and all the Northern leaders to intervene in the matter and call the Abia State Governor to stop further action.
“Otherwise, we will have no option than to call all Northerners residing in the Eastern part of the country to come back home, and at same time ask Igbo residents in the North to move to their region the east,” he said.