Ohanaeze Ndigbo Worldwide has distanced itself from a woman who called on the Igbo to poison Yoruba and Edo people living in Canada.
In a statement on Wednesday, the national publicity secretary of Ohanaeze Alex Ogbonnia said there was no sufficient evidence that the woman who posted the video was Igbo, adding that she did not in any way portray the Igbo character of thoughtfulness, discretion, self-censure and equanimity.
He said, “The attention of Ohanaeze Ndigbo Worldwide has been drawn to a video clip making the rounds in the social media which goes by the name @Anyi_anambra on TikTok asking the Igbo to poison the foods of the Yoruba and Benin people.”
Ogbonnia said the woman “promised to encourage other Igbo to poison Yoruba and Benin people” and also asked the Igbo to develop the “heart of wickedness and to start poisoning Yoruba and Edo.”
He added, “Ohanaeze would have ignored the social media video clip as coming from a deranged psychopath or one of the fictitious narratives which with the Internet device was twisted, dressed, coated and delivered to the unsuspecting and obliging public.”
Ogbonnia, however, said the group’s telephone numbers have been inundated by various eminent persons who expressed fears of the possibility of some persons carrying out the threats.
“It therefore becomes imperative for Ohanaeze to respond, especially when the National Publicity Secretary of the Afenifere, Mr. Jare Ajayi forwarded the clip and requested for prompt action.
“There is no Igbo man or woman that will contemplate throwing stones in a full market for the fear of who shall be the victim as the Igbo travel more than any ethnic group in Africa.
“They also create homes away from home wherever they are found. They mix up or integrate with the local community and contribute to developing every community they find themselves.
“Based on the foregoing, two major derivatives emerge: if one should poison food in Lagos or Ibadan or Benin, is there any guarantee that the first victim will not be Igbo?” he asked.
The publicity secretary said the woman in the said video must be a “depressed drowning ethnic bigot, obsessed by the negative side of history and unflinching satanic in orchestration”.
He therefore, assured the Afenifere, the entire Yoruba and Edo people that the threat from the woman should be ignored as ”idiotic, meaningless and vacuous.”
