Despite the nationwide protests commencing today, Igbo traders in Nnewi and Onitsha opened their markets and shops for business. As early as 6:30 am, the streets of these towns were bustling with commercial buses and tricycles transporting traders and artisans to their destinations.
The Igbo community has expressed strong opposition to the ongoing protests, with prominent groups like the United Igbo Elders Council (UNIEC) making their stance clear. In a statement issued Thursday morning, UNIEC voiced their disapproval of the protest, citing a “differential attitude to human rights” exhibited by the organizers towards the Igbo and other Nigerians. The statement was signed by Prof. Obasi Igwe, Director of Media and Publicity, and His Lordship Alpha Justice, Coordinator General of UNIEC.
UNIEC highlighted the consistent injustices faced by the Igbo community, including targeted killings and official complicity, with no condemnation from protest organizers. “The loud silence, signalling acquiescence, of some of its organizers to the extremely targeted injustices against the Igbo/East and, for the last nine years, orchestrated killings, with countless evidences of official involvement or connivance, with no sympathy from anywhere, baffles imagination,” the statement read.
Instead of supporting the protest, UNIEC presented a ten-point demand to President Tinubu, aimed at stabilizing Nigeria. Their demands include lifting the economic and ports blockade imposed on the Igbo since 1967, which has crippled ports like Port Harcourt and Bonny, and led to significant economic downturns in the East.
Other key demands include ending military exercises in civilian areas, addressing the underrepresentation of Igbo in the military, stopping the demolition of Igbo properties in Lagos and Abuja, and compensating affected individuals. They also called for the expulsion of Fulani terrorists from Eastern and Middle Belt regions, reducing fuel prices, restoring government bursaries and scholarships, and restructuring the country to promote equal development across all regions.
