The Publicity Secretary of Action Congress of Nigeria, ACN, Lagos State, Mr. Joe IgbokweLAGOS State chapter of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) has urged the Igbo and other ethnic groups in the state to disregard those behind ‘cheap and dirty politics that the state isno longer suitable for non-indigenes’.
Urging the Igbo particularly to go on with their businesses as the state will continue to grant them necessary support, the ACN, in a statement yesterday by the Publicity Secretary,Mr. Joe Igbokwe, said the decision of the state government to move some homeless, indigent citizens to their home-states for rehabilitation, was not targeted at any particular ethnic group.
Meanwhile, the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA),Onitsha Branch, has condemned the expulsion of over 70 Nigerians from Lagos State to Onitsha, Anambra State, by people suspected to be agents of Lagos government.
The NBA statement, signed by Mr. Dennis C. Maduachesi and Steve .O. Ononye, chairman and secretary respectively, and made availableto The Guardian yesterday, added “it is totally deplorable that at the level of development in Nigeria when governments are building bridgesof relationship, a government that should be seen as being responsible will be involved in such irresponsible act.
The NBA consequently called on the Inspector General of Police, Mr. Mohammed Abubakar, to commence full investigation into the matter with a view to determining the identities of the people behind such deportation together with the policemen who accompanied them to carry out such nefarious act.
According to Igbokwe, “ACN is particularly irked by the decision of some professional chance-takers and political opportunists to takeadvantage of the recent movement of some indigent, homeless and social miscreants to Onitsha for the purpose of re-connecting with their families when they have no tangible business in Lagos.
“To put the records straight, the Lagos State government, with its commitment to the interests of Lagosians and in its effort to build a functional modern mega-city, had long embarked on the decision to pick up the many derelicts, the homeless, beggars and social miscreants that inhabit all parts of Lagos, cleanthem up, find means of livelihood for those that are employable and send those it cannot manage to their respective states”, the statement said.
According to ACN, the scheme has seen the practical reduction in the number of the beggars, street urchins and social miscreants that used to constitute real danger to lives in Lagos and has seen such people being moved back to their various states, mainly in the North. We should note also that other states in the South, including South-West, have receivedsuch people and the Lagos State government has been careful to ensure that the number of people involved in such periodic movements are minimal and are only people who do not have where to stay in Lagos, who don’t have any real engagement in Lagos and who constitute nuisance to other Lagosians.
Igbokwe said: “We also put the nation on notice that before the latest movement of some people to Onitsha, we notified the Anambra State government, which neither responded nor took action on our complaint. We also want the public to note that the Lagos State government was involved in similar deal with the Akwa Ibom State government when some indigent Lagosians were moved back from Akwa Ibom State to Lagos. We want Nigerians to note that such movements are common with nearly all states in Nigeria and are becoming an issue just because selfish politicians and ethnic reapers who were prominent in the despoliation of the country see it as new and worth cashing in on.

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