The Traditional Ruler of the Northern Communities in Imo, Alhaji Auwal Baba-Sulaiman, has described as “false and misleading”, the report of an alleged attack on northerners resident in the state.
Baba-Sulaiman, otherwise known as the Sarkin Hausawa, made the rebuttal at a news briefing in Owerri on Tuesday.
He was reacting to reports in a section of the media, which alleged that some agents of the State Government led an attack on northerners dwelling in Imo.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the Imo Government recently raided forests and demolished shanties in various dangerous locations in Owerri and its environs suspected to be hideouts for illicit drug hawkers, kidnappers and child traffickers.
The action was part of the government’s renewed efforts to rid the state of criminal elements.
Some settlements of northerners in the affected areas were, however, affected in the process.
Baba-Sulaiman said that the northerners residing in the state had continued to enjoy the peace and cooperation of their host communities.
He lauded the State Government’s efforts at tackling criminality, saying that northerners in the state had never been targets of attack by the government.
“These reports are misleading, unfounded, divisive and aimed at disrupting national peace and unity because we have never been attacked by the State Government or its agents.
“Northerners, no matter where they dwell in the country, remain committed to peaceful coexistence and a force for peace and national cohesion.
“We stand completely against any and every effort to incite ethnic conflict in Imo and other parts of the country by means of fake news,“ Baba-Sulaiman said.
He warned purveyors of such reports to desist from misinforming the public but to present the activities of the Gov. Hope Uzodinma-led government for what it truly is.
He also called on journalists, especially the online media, to always endeavor to verify the veracity of information before sending it out for public consumption to avoid heating up the nation’s polity.
