IPOB is calling for war– ACF

Banning of the transportation of livestock to the south-east and singing of the National Anthem by Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) is nothing but declaration of war- Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF).

The National Publicity Secretary of the ACF, Emmanuel Yawe, said this while commenting on the plan by the Amalgamated Union of Foodstuff and Cattle Dealers of Nigeria to ban the movement of foodstuffs from the north to the south-east.

According to him, “We have appealed to this union in the past when their members were attacked and some killed and their property destroyed due to no fault of theirs.”

Yawe explained that at that time, they mounted a blockade and stopped the supply of foodstuffs to the East, saying that prices skyrocketed and there was an outcry and due to appeals by the ACF, they lifted the blockade.

“The concerns of the union and their fears are justified. Somebody should call IPOB to order. We are still one country and not at war. Their pronouncements amount to an open declaration of war,” he said.

The Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF) is a political and cultural association of leaders in Northern Nigeria formed in 2000 which has considerable influence in the political scene. (Arewa means “Northern” in Hausa, the primary language of the region.) The forum is a successor to the Northern People’s Congress, which collapsed after the coup of 1966.