In April 2017, Igbo traders took to the streets in Yenagoa in an unprecedented protest. Something had rattled them. Three prominent Igbo traders had been murdered in one month. They suspected something more sinister than routine armed robbery and assassination. They put their finger on xenophobia. The police dismissed the insinuation and reassured them of their safety. The murders were unrelated incidents, they said. The traders took the assurance but remained nervous. A month later, a man checked into a hotel room in Yenogoa with his girlfriend. What transpired in that room has not been fleshed out. The girl was rushed to a hospital with stab wounds. Two days after, she died. The boyfriend had sneaked out of the hotel and has not been seen since then. There are versions of his story. But the dead lady was certainly Ijaw, an indigene. The fugitive boyfriend is an Igbo trader. The story that gained traction on the streets of Yenagoa was sharp toothed. It was that an Igbo man had used an Ijaw girl for money- making ritual. What followed was unprecedented. Violent mobs sprouted. Every Igbo man became an actual or potential criminal. The town convulsed with hate and chants of ‘Igbo must go.’ Shops belonging to Igbos in a section of the town were ransacked and burnt. Igbos squirreled into holes. They weren’t entirely shocked. They had warned about rising anti Igbo tensions. The police and the Army were deployed to contain the rampaging youths. Naked violence was brought under control. Wounded Igbos were taken to hospitals. But the animosity and hate that had been lit couldn’t be doused by mere law enforcement. Igbos lived their lives in fear. Ghosts of reprisals lurked their homes and followed them everywhere. Their shops remained shut and locked. They were told, in that section of Yenogoa, to lie low. Leaving their shops locked was in their own interest. The nursing of the tempers of their landlords , the Ijaw indigenes, had to be their immediate priority. They stayed indoors like sheep while the state struggled to negotiate with the indigenes their citizenship rights. Throughout their ordeal none of the prominent Azikiwes of Ijaw descent was heard or seen. None of the surrogates of that political leader who always flaunted his kinship with the Igbos during elections was heard. The political tendency that prides itself as latter-day Igbo ethnic champions was not heard. They could have at least reminded irate Ijaw youths a few political debts. The IPOB didn’t bother to issue a statement even though Yenagoa is within its description of Biafran jurisdiction. The Igbos in Yenagoa were left to genuflect, prostrate, worship Ijaw youths and their anger. I called a friend of mine who is Ijaw from Bayelsa to discuss the incident. He was not embarrassed by the actions of the youths in that town. He proclaimed that Igbos brought armed robbery to Yenagoa. I was speechless. But that explained so much of what was happening on the streets of Yenogoa. He is enlightened but he subscribes to the very jaundiced ideas that have bred this xenophobia. They believe Igbos are settlers that can be sent away from Yenogoa. They believe Igbos are contaminants of Ijaw morality, they are responsible for much of the evil in the town. And there is one he didn’t talk about that flows from envy. They believe that Igbos are usurpers. The corollary is the ungodly idea that some kind of cleansing is required. That is why many didn’t find the action of the youths repugnant. That is a dangerous situation. The economy is passing through a turbulence. There are many jobless youths. In many places in Nigeria, Igbos dominate street commerce. Indigenes welcome them but prosperity can breed envy. When frustrations mount, some of the anger ordinarily meant for the governments will be channeled towards the prosperous settler. He will become the one who has usurped the opportunities that rightly belonged to the indigenes. That is the pattern. His crimes are magnified and labeled affront against the peace and quiet of the indigenes, by his tribe. That is the reason Nigerians are from time to time butchered in South Africa. South Africa has been mismanaged. Joblessness and frustration have taken over the streets. Some of the anger naturally must be projected to immigrants. Nigerians commit crimes like others. But their crimes are not seen as individual transgressions of the criminal code but a corruption of the society, a dilution of morals by a contaminating and eradicable tribe. Such animosity can cake into xenophobia. Then xenophobia seethes like a volcano, splashing lava in its seasons. That is what erupted in Yenagoa Where ethnic hate flows freely ethnic profiling must exist. The sin of one man can be visited on his tribesmen. It is wrong. Sometimes, a fight between a Hausa man and a Yoruba man in Idumota could become a Yoruba versus Hausa world war, in minutes. But it will die quickly once the fire is put out, and everyone moves on. That’s a different thing. Some other times it could linger. If a market or some other privilege is in contention, the animosity can endure. But in all such cases the frictions and flares are localized. There are no widespread systemic complications. That’s the Ketu mile 12 scenario. No one tribe rises to demand the evacuation of the other. The incident in Yenogoa was different. The implicated incident was ordinarily too isolated, too cold to spark such a wide response. That incident alone couldn’t have fed the mob with such vengeance. The anger and violence were deployed with a touch of premeditation. Mere provocation cannot explain the direction of vengeance towards all Igbo in a purely criminal matter being handled by the police. It is interesting that incident could happen in Yenagoa now. The civil war put a wedge between the south south communities and the Igbos. The civil war sowed deep suspicions. Post civil war, Igbos complained of more bitterness and resentment in the hands of the South South communities than the Hausa Fulani, their supposed enemies. Recently, that friction appeared to have abated. Since Saro Wiwa and MOSOP, Igbos have identified with the plight of the Niger delta and supported their agitations for resource control. Igbos want equity. And equity includes resource control and true federalism. When Jonathan became president, Igbos gave him more support than his Niger Delta . So it all looked that the ghosts of the civil war had been banished. It looked like the South South has switched political alliance from the north back to the east. It looked like the shared sense of victimhood was deep and had birthed a brotherhood. Hate against Hausa Fulani has been freely spread around those regions. Once the heart learns hate it can choose other targets. Perhaps Yenagoa is a mere blip on the path of that political alliance. Perhaps, it’s a cautionary reminder of reality. The wide dispersal of Igbos and their integration into all communities in the country is good for national unity. What happened in Yenagoa is inimical to national unity. Source: www.vanguardngr.com/2017/05/igbos-second-class-citizens-yenagoa/

Eh

I'm bothered by all forms of bigotry. But the one which worries me most is this Yoruba vs Igbo online battle for supremacy . It all seems like a joke but people have different levels of threshold. For someone like me I can easily brush it off as I believe foolishness abounds in all tribes and religions. But some folks actually abhor hatred from all these racist post on Nairaland. We all need to be careful and don't fan the flames of war.

I wish Igbos could learn one thing from that incident.....Igboland is the only home we truly have, let's go and build it.

Statsocial:
I'm bothered by all forms of bigotry. But the one which worries me most is this Yoruba vs Igbo online battle for supremacy . It all seems like a joke but people have different levels of threshold. For someone like me I can easily brush it off as I believe foolishness abounds in all tribes and religions. But some folks actually abhor hatred from all these racist post on Nairaland. We all need to be careful and don't fan the flames of war.

This thread has nothing to do with Yorubas. It'd be nice If you don't drag them into this. Thanks.

Nwogeh:
I wish Igbos could learn one thing from that incident.....Igboland is the only home we truly have, let's go and build it.

They should also learn not to covet SS land as part of SE because they will pay very dearly.

So if some miscreant attack u in their land dat will turn d person to b becomes second citizen

Ok

Nwogeh:
I wish Igbos could learn one thing from that incident.....Igboland is the only home we truly have, let's go and build it.

Unparallel truth.
#Aku_lu_uno

ElsonMorali:


This thread has nothing to do with Yorubas. It'd be nice If you don't drag them into this. Thanks.

he was just making reference

IgbosAreGreat:




he was just making reference

No need for reference. It'd be a wonderful day on Nairaland when Igbos and Yorubas aren't at each other's throats.

ElsonMorali:


This thread has nothing to do with Yorubas. It'd be nice If you don't drag them into this. Thanks.

And who said it had?

Statsocial:

And who said it had?

So what was your intention then bringing Igbo -Yoruba fight to this thread again?

Statsocial:
I'm bothered by all forms of bigotry. But the one which worries me most is this Yoruba vs Igbo online battle for supremacy . It all seems like a joke but people have different levels of threshold. For someone like me I can easily brush it off as I believe foolishness abounds in all tribes and religions. But some folks actually abhor hatred from all these racist post on Nairaland. We all need to be careful and don't fan the flames of war.

oga don't derail this thread . don't attach Yoruba name to it

Nwogeh:
I wish Igbos could learn one thing from that incident.....Igboland is the only home we truly have, let's go and build it.

This is exactly my position. Igbos should return home. If we can converge and build Enugu, Imo, Abia, Ebonyi Anambra, moving down to Etche and other Igbo enclaves in the South South, this animosity against us will die a natural dearth.....My prayer everyday is the unity of Indi'gbo and her actual development.

Ok o.

Even the Ijaws do not want their number 1 ally, Malaysian Developers, Cousins of Benjamin Netayanhu and Sons of Hatred, on their soil again!!!!

Is it only me who doesn't understand what the writer is driving at?

SuperS1Panther:
Ok o.

Even the Ijaws do not want their number 1 ally, Malaysian Developers, Cousins of Benjamin Netayanhu and Sons of Hatred, on their soil again!!!!

You do have the right to spite us.... mind you the "night" don't last forever.....

IgbosAreGreat:
So if some miscreant attack u in their land dat will turn d person to b becomes second citizen

point of correction, it's second class citizens.

But wetin concern me. It's a Master & Slave affair. A slave killed a daughter of his Master while the master trying to avenge his loss.

blues2022:

You do have the right to spite us.... mind you the "night" don't last forever.....

Persecution complex is in y'all.

Biafra is dead

gberra:
Persecution complex is in y'all.

Biafra is dead

Whether Biafra or not, the sun will still rise again.

Ndigbo open your eyes.

Waiting for the to shout Afonja as usual

I'm ready to blow off anybody that mention Afonja here.

I'm battle ready for them

Which second class citizens are you talking about
So Yorubas are second class citizens in Lagos after been attacked by Hausa-fulani miscreant in Mile 12.

I don't have any pity for the Igbos.

The Yoruba race has been the most accommodating to this this ungrateful people, giving them lands, houses, wives and security yet they have not hesitated to exhibit their hatred for the Yorubas. They will say all manner of unprintable wrong things against Yoruba, they behave as though the Yoruba is the only problem they have.

They have been massacred like animals uncountable times by the Hausas and the Niger Deltans. The Yoruba will provide them security and where such is breached for any reason it's ensured that Justice is provided for them yet they resent anything Yoruba. They live in Yoruba land and sow hate in their children telling them that Yorubas are not good, that Yorubas are traitors yet they will not leave Yoruba land.


Why even crying out loud? The letters are boldly written on the board, the Bayelsans have made their voices loud and clear, they want the to leave their land, they can no longer tolerate their children being used for money rituals while you still flaunts the money in their face. Or is that too much to request?

Funny subject though. But honestly the Igbos shouldn't be more than second class citizens in another man's land, the idea of first class only exist in their imaginations. After all they don't accommodate other tribes in their lands as they have been accepted in others lands. Children of hate!

This should be a lesson to those who were ready to die for GEJ.The earlier we become objective and eschew ethnic bias,the better for this country.I lived in Yenagoa and experienced the Igbophobia of the Ijaws.

Cc OAM4J Mynd44

Odingo1:
Which second class citizens are you talking about
So Yorubas are second class citizens in Lagos after been attacked by Hausa-fulani miscreant in Mile 12.

...guy get sense.. Lagos is known to b a Yoruba land..while bayelsa is never a igbo land

Odingo1:
Which second class citizens are you talking about
So Yorubas are second class citizens in Lagos after been attacked by Hausa-fulani miscreant in Mile 12.

You will never face your master but bringing Yoruba to this again. Dont you have shame?

no full stop or comma

na waa