Nnaya Eziyi, Umuahia
The Prelate, Methodist Church, Nigeria, Dr. Samuel ‘Emeka Kanu Uche has accused the Inspector General of Police (IGP), Ibrahim Idris of being part of the plot by Arewa Youth Consultative Forum to evict Ndigbo from Northern Nigeria.
Uche stated this while speaking to newsmen at the end of the 35th Council of Bishops of Methodist Church Nigeria at Methodist Theological Institute, Umuahia, the Abia State capital, daring Idris to arrest him if he felt offended.
He based the allegation on the failure of the police boss to arrest the members of the forum for the eviction order and caution both some individuals or groups in the north that have allied themselves with the position of the youths.
According to him, the position of both the youths and their supporters is even more dangerous to the unity of the country than what the leaders of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Mr. Nnamdi Kanu is reported to have committed.
The clergy man, who maintained that the youths might playing out a script written by unseen hands who are bent on causing crisis in the country, stressed that the development must be nip in the bud before it becomes uncontrollable.
Adding that Christians’ peaceful disposition according to Biblical injunction doesn’t mean they are either afraid of being killed or are weaklings, the prelates warned that any attempt to Islamize Nigeria will lead to its end as a country.
He expressed confidence that despite its challenges, which he blamed on bad leadership, the country has been forging ahead; noting that the people would be better of by remaining one political entity irrespective of their diversities.
In a communiqué issued at the end of the meeting, the council blamed the persistent agitations by Ndigbo on the failure of the federal government to implement its reconciliation, reconstruction and rehabilitation programs for them at the end of the Nigeria Civil war.
The council, which was declared open by Governor Okezie Ikpeazu and had 78 Episcopates in attendance said “Non-implementation of this project has obviously led to the rise in agitation of various forms in South-East.”
Continuing, the communiqué, which was read by the Secretary of Conference, Rt Rev (Dr) Michael Akinwale the council, urged the National Assembly to revisit the Bill on South-East Development Commission as a way of making the zone feel that it belongs to the country.
It acknowledged the wisdom of the creation of the Federal Character Commission by the federal government, insisting that the government in employments and appointments must strictly respect the philosophy of the commission.
The council associated it self with the efforts of the national Assembly in passing the Bill on the legislation of the Nigerian Peace Corps, urging the Acting President Yemi Osinbajo to assent to it to provide jobs for a number of youth in the country.
