Governor Peter Obi of Anambra State has threatened to carry out a reprisal following the deportation of beggars and destitute people by the Lagos State Government to the South Eastern state.
On July 24, 72 evictees were dumped, under the cover of darkness, at Upper Iweka Bridge, Onitsha, the commercial hub of Anambra State.
In a strongly worded letter to President Goodluck Jonathan, Mr. Obi described the action as "illegal, unconstitutional, and a blatant violation of the human rights" of the deportees.
"Your Excellency, no amount of offence committed by these people, even if deemed extremely criminal, would justify or warrant such cruel action by a State authority and in a democracy. Even refugees are protected by the law," Mr. Obi said.
The Anambra governor further urged Mr. Jonathan to direct the Attorney-General of the Federation to investigate the incident.
"Naturally, I have the obligation to protect the interest and welfare of all Nigerians resident in Anambra State irrespective of their states of origin and I would be left no option other than reciprocity or reprisal," Mr. Obi said.
"I will, however, put any such reaction in abeyance until Your Excellency has had the opportunity to address our concerns," he added.
A RECURRING INCIDENT
Last week's deportation was not the first time beggars and destitute people were moved from Nigeria's commercial capital to Anambra State.
In September 2012, Anambra accused Lagos of "dumping unidentified persons brought in nine buses" at a location in the state, a situation which forced Mr. Obi to swiftly address a press conference alerting security agencies.
The Lagos State government, however, have insisted that it merely "resettled" 67 indigenes of Anambra State who, of their own volition, decided to return to their home towns.
The actual figure of the deportees has, however, continued to vary. While Anambra said 72 persons, Lagos stated 67.
'RESCUED FROM THE STREETS'
A series of exchanges between the two state governments made available to PREMIUM TIMES indicated that the Lagos State Government notified its Anambra counterpart of its intention to relocate 14 persons.
In a letter dated April 9, 2013, and addressed to the Anambra State Liaison Officer in Victoria Island, Lagos; the state solicited the assistance of Anambra to screen the 14 destitute "rescued" from the streets of Lagos.
"I am to inform you that fourteen (14) persons who claimed to be indigenes of your state are currently in our centre awaiting your response towards evacuation and integration with their families, back in Anambra State," read the letter signed by O. T Ajao, Special Adviser, Office of Youth and Social Development.
In its April 15 response, Anambra requested the particulars of the 14 alleged indigenes of the state to enable it "make proper enquiry as to finding out their true origin."
"The above request is of urgent importance, to facilitate their integration with their families if they are from Anambra," the letter signed by Chukwudum Ucheoma, Senior Special Assistant to the Governor, read.
On April 29, Lagos State responded, forwarding the particulars of the 14 indigenes, and further requesting the presence of Anambra State officials at its Rehabilitation and Training Centre in Ikorodu, to conduct a physical identification through interaction with them.
A review of the document by PREMIUM TIMES revealed that out of the 14 persons, only three correctly stated their places of origin in Anambra State.
One person stated Nkanu in Enugu State; one from Obudu in Cross River State, while three persons stated unrecognisable places of origin.
Six persons could not state their local governments of origin.
The Action Congress of Nigeria, ACN, in a statement berated critics of the Lagos State Government's action, accusing them of politicising a decision to reunite indigent people with their families.
"We expect that the opposition in Lagos and its array of frustrated politicians will certainly seek to play politics with the decision to move some people that have no tangible business staying in Lagos to their home states," said the statement signed by Joe Igbokwe, Publicity Secretary, Lagos State chapter of the ACN.
"We expected that the professional ethnic agitators who have wasted public offices in Igboland, pillaging resources that would have served the interests of the people are now cashing further from the plights of their vicious approach to governance on this issue.
"We should note that other states in the South, including South West states have received such people and the Lagos State government has been careful to ensure that the number of people involved in such periodic movements are minimal and are only people who do not have where to stay in Lagos, who don't have any real engagement in Lagos and who constitute nuisance to other Lagosians."
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This has got to be the start of a deliberate attempt to cause chaos and possibly destroy Nigeria. First, why would a state forcibly kick out destitutes. Are they not Nigerians? It seems like Lagos is a different world from the rest of Nigeria and those in charge may be seeing it that way. If Lagosians want to keep quiet about this, take a look at the Eko Atlantic City project. Do you think that this city will be for you? It is meant for foreigners and probably some wealthy Nigerians and this will be a form of what is happening now with the deportation of Igbos. If nothing is done about this, it will get much worse as Governor Obi pointed out. We should speak out against these injustices but at the same time we must remember, and this is absolutely key to remember, that as the immorality of our society starts to intensify further, a lot of it is a smokescreen. Some is real, but things like the Senate not voting to remove Section 4b in article 29 of the 1999 constitution is also designed to stir up ethnic and religious divisions. We have to remember that this is what a desperate elite tries to do to stay in power. The pressure on them has never been as large as it is today and they will do just about anything to stay in power and out of prison or the grave. They are like drug addicts who will do anything to get their next fix. If we lose sight of that, we will be on the road to the greatest geopolitical catastrophe of the 21st century up to this point and we will all be responsible for it.
Can this be Yoruba at this time around? you guys are looking for war again no one will escape it when it comes.it will never be the same again you guys are mistaken, people like Ojukwu are still in igboland and we have them many.NEVER YOU TORCH THE TALE OF A TIGER WHETHER IS DEAD OR ALIVE.
Ideally one should be able to settle wherever one wants in one’s own country. (Indeed legally naturalised people from Nigeria can do that in most host nations). But Nigeria is far from being a normal and decent society.
The realities on the ground (fostered by Nigerians), means that one is largely confined to their own section of the country. Lagos state is somewhat of an exception, but is still not immune to the chauvinism that is common throughout the country. We can see this clearly in Plateau state. If there is such a thing as civil society (there), they should monitor the situation to ensure that it is not being abused and used to gradually cleanse Lagos of it’s Igbo population.
Fashola is not a fascist, and by Nigerian standards (a progressive and enlightened human-being). Reason should prevail, if there aren’t the funds to re-settle homeless migrants within Lagos state, then returning them to their homes is not unreasonable. This should be handled humanely and with the co-operation of the receiving states.
We can’t simply blame Lagos state (the state is small and over-crowded as it is), but the governors of the other states should be pressurised to deliver a standard of living that will retain their people, rather than push them to seek their fortune elsewhere.
Obi writing the president is a waste of time.