We Can’t Play Around With Lives, Businesses Of 11.6 Million Igbos Outside Southeast, Abia Governor

Governor of Abia state, Dr. Okezie Ikpeazu has made it clear that the Southeast governors cannot afford to play around with the lives and businesses of 11.6 Igbo people living and doing businesses in other parts of Nigeria.
“I want to announce that the population of Igbos outside Ibo enclave is about 11.6 million. You don’t play with the lives of 11.6 million. So we all have to be careful, the press, the leadership at the state level, the leadership at the federal government level, everybody.
“I think we should be guarded by the rule of law and grow confidence in the Nigerian citizens that under our laws, they are protected.”
Governor Ikpeazu made the remarks today, Tuesday when he spoke to newsmen shortly after confering with Vice President Yemi Osinbajo at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.
The governor accused some people whom he did not identify, of hijacking the agitation for a seperate nation by the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) to cause another war in the country.
He said that though the trouble had been checked, but that he and his team are still working to stabilize the fragile peace in the region.
“I thank God also for the instruments He used to be able to keep our country as one. We are humbled by the privileges.
Abia governor said that he used the opportunity of the recent visit by some governors from the North to assure them of safety of lives and property of everybody that resides in Abia, whether or not such person is indigene of the state.
“I swore with the Bible to protect lives and property and because I take such things seriously, I will continue to protect the lives and property of my brothers and sisters, irrespective of where they come from.
“You know that the mainstay of our economy in Abia State is trade and commerce and I do not think it will augur well for our economy if we make our kitchen the theatre of Biafra.
“A native wisdom in my place says you shouldn’t allow fight to ensue from your  mother’s kitchen. It is my responsibility also to grow prosperity from my state.
On the call that Nnamdi Kanu’s father should be dethroned as local chief, governor Ikpeazu said that he would separate Kanu from his father, adding that the process of handling traditional institutions are enshrined in the laws of the state.
“And traditional rulers who are members of our constituency have leadership; they will do the needful at the appropriate time. “But for me, I think there is a clear division between Nnamdi Kanu and his father.[myad]