From Jeff Amechi Agbodo, Onitsha
An Igbo socio-political organisation, the Ndigbo Unity Forum (NUF), has called on the Governor of Lagos State Babajide Sanwo-Olu to pay compensation for the destruction of properties of Ndigbo in Lagos.
The group said that the compensation will douse the tension and reduce the sufferings of the victims and will not portrayed the governor as a hater of Ndigbo.
NUF group said there was no other way to describe the action of Lagos State Governor even when he is not an indigene of the State but also a stranger in Lagos.
The leader of the group Dede Uzor in a statement said it was uncharitable for any person or group of persons to insinuate that Ndigbo is not part of Lagos, saying that the history of the development of Lagos State cannot be complete without Ndigbo dating back to pre-colonial, colonial, post-colonial and the current era.
The group said that nobody can talk of the modern Lagos without the enormous economic contribution of Ndigbo in all facets of the life of the State, saying that some tribal elements just wanted Ndigbo to lay golden eggs without being part of the hatchery.
“It is most unfair, unjust and ungodly and impossible. Ndigbo are part of the Nigerian federation and they have the right to pursue their economic interest in any part of the country as well as express their political rights according to their conscience. The destruction of the properties of Ndigbo in Mafoluku, Oshodi and Alaba International Market was a result of the last election in which Peter Obi of the Labour Party defeated Bola Ahmed Tinubu of All Progressives Congress (APC
“It was not only Igbo votes that gave Obi victory in Lagos but even that of Yorubas too, why then single out Ndigbo for persecution. We want compensation to those affected by the Lagos State Government, alternatively, the victims should drag the State Government to Court for compensation. The development is a lesson to Ndigbo in the Diaspora on the need to bring back home a substantial part of their investment” Uzor stated.