The apex Igbo socio-cultural organisation, Ohanaeze Ndigbo Worldwide has defended the Chairman of its Council of Elders, Chief Emmanuel Iwuanyanwu, insisting that the statement credited to him as describing Yoruba people as political rascals was the hand work of mischief makers.
The group, in a statement on Sunday by its National Publicity Secretary, Dr Chiedozie Ogbonnia, while denying that Iwuanyanwu made the statement, described the statement credited to Iwuanyawu as a typical falsehood, fabricated by mischief makers to create inter-ethnic mistrust between the two ethnic groups.
Ogbonnia insisted that Iwuanyanwu only said “I want to tell those in Lagos to realise that there is no war between us and the Yoruba. Those who attacked Ndigbo in Lagos recently are rascals who should be arrested.”
The statement read in part: “Our attention has been drawn to the fake news making the rounds that the Chairman, Council of Elders, Ohanaeze Ndigbo Worldwide, Chief Emmanuel Iwuanyanwu, (Ahaejiagamba) referred to the Yoruba as political rascals.
“This is a typical falsehood, fabricated by social media entrepreneurs, decorated with wings, expanded with venoms, injected with ethnic nuances, and propelled to fly to various corners, fronts, and heights in order to create inter-ethnic mistrust between the age-long partners in the social, cultural, religious and economic development of Nigeria. Indeed it is a lie from the pit of hell.
“The emphasis is that we must not attribute the ugly event in Lagos to the good people of Yoruba ethnicity, rather, it was the handiwork of rascals, hooligans, spivs, charlatans, miscreants, and dregs of Lagos society.
“It is important to highlight that Chief Iwuanyanwu is a renowned patriotic detribalised Nigerian. He enjoyed the fidelity, confidence, solidarity, and support of the Yoruba when he was in active business and politics.”
