Afenifere Slams ‘Sinking’ Political Godfathers Over Attack On Igbo Voters In Lagos

The Afenifere socio-political organization has slammed those it described as “sinking political godfathers” and security agencies over the alleged attack on Igbo voters in Lagos State during the presidential and National Assembly elections that held on Saturday.

There had been reports that thugs who paraded themselves as members of the Yoruba nationalist organization, Oodua Peoples Congress (OPC), attacked Lagos residents of the Ndigbo extraction yesterday to deny them the opportunity to exercise their constitutional rights of voting in the February 23 presidential and National Assembly elections in the state.

But reacting to the reports, Afenifere said they have carried out checks and found that the thugs are not members of OPC as claimed, but thugs who were acting the script of their sinking political godfathers.

A statement signed by Afenifere’s National Publicity Secretary, Yinka Odumakin, reads: “Afenifere condemns in the strongest terms the political violence visited on Nigerians of Ndigbo extraction in Lagos during the Saturday Presidential elections.

“Dirty political merchants and their band of thugs apart from engineering political disenfranchisement of Ndigbo, went ahead to visit violence on them and burning their votes en masse.

“The political vandals they used were said to have been calling themselves OPC but our checks with the genuine leaders of the group have shown that the deranged elements had no affiliation with the OPC known by Afenifere.

“We frown seriously at the failure of the security agencies to give adequate cover to Ndigbo in the affected communities as these thugs went berserk carrying out the instructions of their sinking political godfathers.

“We want to assure our Igbo Brothers and Sisters that the bond of friendship the Afenifere and Ohanaeze Ndigbo have built particularly under the dynamic leadership of Chief John Nwodo remains strong and will not be broken by the nefarious activities of a few strange children in our midst.

“We are already in discussions with Ndigbo leadership on the matter and we appeal for calm as these political vandals are only engaged in death kicks .

“We call on the security agencies to give adequate security covers to Ndigbo in subsequent elections as we encourage them not to succumb to intimidation and harassment by political vampires .

“Our historical connectivity with Ndigbo will survive the Saturday madness and the perpetrators will be shamed eternally,” read the statement.