Yoruba Monarchs Beg Igbo Residents In Lagos To Forgive Oba Akiolu
Marylyn Ogar, spokesperson for the Department of State Services said on April 8, Wednesday, that the appropriate action had been started in relation to the alleged threat by Rilwan Akiolu, the Oba of Lagos.
The official made a claim in Abuja. She was quoted as saying by The Punch:
"We are taking appropriate action. Yesterday, the service had once again warned all Nigerians not to stoke the embers of discord within the country.
"If the presidential election had come and gone successfully, we wouldn’t want people to begin to whip up sentiments unnecessarily. So we are handling it."
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In another development, some Yoruba monarchs asked Igbo people to forgive the Oba adding that Yoruba and Igbo will continue living peacefully side by side.
The Yoruba traditional rulers made their position known yesterday as they hosted Igbo leaders from different parts of Lagos, Vanguard provides.
Oba Kayode Akinyemi, the Alabirun of Ikare, speaking on behalf of seven other Obas, insisted that Akiolu's statement, which generated many angry reactions, should be seen as a slip of the tongue.
Gordian Dimojiaku, the Eze-Ndigbo of Amuwo-Oriade, said he had been present at the meeting when the Oba made the comment. Dimojiaku noted that the speaker did not mean any harm to Igbo.
Musiliu Obanikoro, the Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, on his part, urged Igbo not to generalise an average Lagosian based on the Oba's claims. He insisted that Akiolu’s deliberate intolerance was for obvious political reasons.
"The monarch has shown unambiguous biases despite his place as a custodian of the Lagos traditional institution and such premeditated and needless hostility could pitch the non-indigenes against the Lagos indigenes.
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"These people have not only become arrogant with power, they are gradually becoming despots. This is who they are. If an individual lays claim to not only hand-picking a governorship candidate but alluded to also owning Lagos as it were, the Igbo should know what such a statement portends for them as a people sinisterly regarded as strangers.
"Igbo have their right to choice as every other Nigerian and stakeholders in the state and what happened at the Oba’s palace was an eye-opener for the Igbo to make an ideal choice on Saturday during the governorship poll. "
The incident with the scandalous speech occurred when the Oba summoned the Igbo leaders at his palace earlier this week. Akiolu purportedly threatened them with death unless they vote for Akinwunmi Ambode, the All Progressives Congress governorship candidate in Lagos.
Source: Legit.ng
