The Lagos State Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, has called on the public to ignore the viral threat on social media X, demanding Igbo citizens to leave Lagos State in the next one month.
According to the threat, all South-Easterners must vacate Lagos State, or face massive protests slated to hold from August 20th -30th, 2024.
In the same vein, the South East Caucus of the National Assembly condemned alleged ethnic profiling of Igbos in the face of ongoing protests in parts of the country.
It also called on security agencies to fish out the brains behind the hate messages and prosecute them.
The faceless group promoting the threat to Igbo in Lagos had also instructed all South-West citizens in the South-Eastern part of the country to come back home.
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But in a swift reaction yesterday, Sanwo-Olu said the Lagos State Government was not in support of the proposed protest.
Sanwo-Olu wrote: “The attention of Lagos State Governor, Mr. Babajide Sanwo-Olu, has been drawn to a post by LagosPedia, a social media handle on X (formerly Twitter) that calls on the Igbo to vacate Lagos and Southwest of Nigeria and brace up for a massive hashtag #Igbomustgo protest from 20th to 30th August, 2024.
“The Governor of Lagos State and, indeed, the Lagos State Government wish to distance themselves from the reckless, divisive and dangerous rhetoric, saying Lagos remains home to every Nigerian citizen regardless of their ethnic nationality.
“Governor Sanwo-Olu views the post as not only reckless and divisive but an attempt to sow a seed of discord between the Yoruba in the Southwest and other tribes, especially those who have made Lagos their permanent place of abode.”
The governor then appealed to Lagosians not to allow any person or group of individuals to create tension in the state.
He called on the security agencies to promptly investigate those behind the handle and bring them to justice.
“Mr. Governor enjoins Lagosians to ignore the post and any post of that nature, promising to double his efforts towards ensuring lasting peace in the state,’ the statement added.
The governor’s stance followed a call by a former presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the 2023 general election, Abubakar Atiku, on the Federal Government to investigate, arrest and prosecute promoters of the threat.
