The Coalition of South East Youth Leaders, COSEYL, the apex socio-political youth group in the South East has cautioned against further attacks on Igbos based in Sokoto State and their shops.
Pandemonium had broken out in some parts of Sokoto State on Saturday following a violent protest by Islamic youths who stormed the streets to demand the release of the suspected killers of Deborah Samuel.
Kokomansion recalls that Deborah, a 200-level student of Shehu Shagari College of Education, Sokoto, was lynched on Thursday for allegedly insulting Prophet Mohammed.
After outcries across the country condemning the incident, some of the perpetrators were arrested by the state’s police command.
Angered by the arrest, a large number of Muslim youths stormed several streets destroying churches and shops belonging to Igbos.
Reacting to the development, COSEYL in a statement by its President-General, Goodluck Ibem, warned that any further move to attack Igbos and their properties would cause them to take dangerous actions.
The statement reads, “These attacks on law-abiding and innocent Igbo businessmen who have done nothing wrong to warrant such vicious and barbaric attack on them is uncalled for and we condemn it in its entirety.
“We warn the Sokoto indigenes to stop the attack and destruction of Igbo properties and goods forthwith. We want these miscreants to know that nobody has the monopoly of violence, they should stop or else, they will see us soon.
“The same way Igbos are living in Sokoto doing their legitimate business is also the same way Sokoto indigenes are living in the South doing their business”.
The coalition called on the Sokoto State Governor, Aminu Tambuwal to immediately arrest and prosecute those involved in the destruction of Igbo properties and churches.
