One of the trucks loaded with youths from the north intercepted. Photo credit: The Guardian

The Association of South East Town Unions has written a letter to the United Nations Secretary General complaining about how “able bodied young men from Northern Nigeria are being smuggled into the South East and eastern part of the country in droves.” This is in spite of the nationwide lockdown, the ban on interstate travel and the 1000 kilometers distance between many parts of the north and the south on roads which “are manned by Nigerian security agencies.” 

The volume of people arriving, the age of the people arriving, and the frequency and timing of their arrival in spite of the ban on interstate travel, due to the Covid-19 situation, according to the group, indicates that this is a coordinated effort masterminded by an unknown group.

 The group went down memory lane, saying: “In the last 5 years a number of bizarre events have occurred including the bizarre over polarization of the country’s Security Council membership towards people from the north, the numerous reports of helicopters dropping off packages in the middle of forests in lgbo land in the middle of the night and other bizarre occurrences. Now we have the strange arrival of able bodied young men in such a coordinated fashion. These bizarre occurrences can only make sense if there is an equally bizarre plan at foot.”

The association went further: “This letter is to alert you that, should there be any seemingly random attack in the South East and eastern part of Nigeria, it is not at all random but part of a carefully choreographed attack that appears to have been carefully planned over the years and, in an insidious military fashion, is being executed to take advantage of the confusion and weakness caused by the Covid-19 situation”

The letter was signed by Chief Emeka Diwe, National President; Chief Gideon Adikwuru, National Secretary; Chief G.U Mgbonukwe, President, Abia State Town Unions and others. 

Below is the letter, dated 19 May, 2020, entitled:

“ETHNIC CLEANSING AND LAND GRABBING AGENDA IN EASTERN NIGERIA.”

It has come to our attention that able bodied young men from Northern Nigeria are being smuggled into the South East and eastern part of the country in droves. This is in spite of the nationwide lockdown, the ban on interstate travel and the 1000 kilometers distance between many parts of the north and the south on roads which are manned by Nigerian security agencies. The volume of people arriving, the age of the people arriving, and the frequency and timing of their arrival in spite of the ban on interstate travel, due to the Covid-19 situation, indicates that this is a coordinated effort masterminded by an unknown group.

In the last 5 years a number of bizarre events have occurred including the bizarre over polarization of the country’s Security Council membership towards people from the north, the numerous reports of helicopters dropping off packages in the middle of forests in lgbo land in the middle of the night and other bizarre occurrences. Now we have the strange arrival of able bodied young men in such a coordinated fashion. These bizarre occurrences can only make sense if there is an equally bizarre plan at foot.

This letter is to alert you that, should there be any seemingly random attack in the South East and eastern part of Nigeria, it is not at all random but part of a carefully choreographed attack that appears to have been carefully planned over the years and, in an insidious military fashion, is being executed to take advantage of the confusion and weakness caused by the Covid-19 situation. It is not clear who the chief proponents of this agenda are but it is clear these are important people of means in and outside the government. Building on the menace of herdsmen that have terrorized many in the eastern part of the country, this additional effort joins in furthering the agenda of dispossessing people of their lands and forcing a different religion and lifestyle on them.

We in the South East and lgbo land will not allow this to happen. We urge you to advise the Federal Government of Nigeria not be a supporter of this initiative and not to acquiesce to it by omission or commission. The Government of Nigeria must identify all those that are part of this sinister plot and put an end to it immediately. If these plans are not evil in nature, why would this secret group of northerners that are masterminding· this be obsessed with land in the South East for example when out of the 19 states in the north, 13 of them are larger than the combined land mass of the 5 South East states (29, 525 Sq Km). These 13 states range from 29, 833 sq km (Kogi state) to 76,363 sq km (Niger state) in size. Only an agenda of domination, ethnic cleansing and land grabbing can explain this interest. 

We hereby ask the United Nations, the US government and the international community to do all in their power to halt this barbaric endeavor which has gone on under the watch of the Federal Government of Nigeria for years now. On behalf of all lgbo people in and outside the South-East of Nigeria, we thank you for coming to our assistance.”

See the letter to the UN: