Why IPOB members attacked the Hausa community in Rivers

Some members of the Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, on Tuesday allegedly attacked the Hausa community in Oyibo Local Government Area of Rivers.

Sources said the incident occurred when members of IPOB who gathered at Timber Junction awaiting other members to join a procession to Aba, Abia, attacked Hausa residents of the area.

The reason for the attack can be traced to the following reasons:

The Igbo Progrom/Genocide:

The first reason that could be responsible for the attack could be The 1966 Igbo civil war . The Igbos have not forgotten the attack meted out to the Igbos in 1966; they still carry the scars and pains of the war till date.

The Igbo Progrom was a series of massacres committed against Igbos and other people of southern Nigerian origin living in northern Nigeria starting in May 1966 and reaching a peak after 29 September 1966.

These events led to the secession of the eastern Nigerian region and the declaration of the Republic of Biafra, which ultimately led to the Nigeria-Biafra war.

The 1966 massacres of southern Nigerians have been described as a holocaust by some authors and have variously been described as riots, pogroms or genocide.

The Northern Youth Coalition 3-month quit notice to Igbos:

Another possible reasons for the attack could be as a result of The Northern Youth Coalition that recently handed a 3-month quit notice to Igbos living in the northern region.

The coalition gave the controversial ultimatum that has been condemned by many Nigerians on June 6, saying Igbos should leave the north before October 1.

Hitherto, they insisted that they have not lifted the quit notice, they said if they were to do so, it would have been after their next meeting and when they get a reply from the United Nations, they claimed they had earlier written to the United Nations on the violent activities of the leader of the Indigenous Peoples of Biafra, IPOB, Nnamdi Kanu, urging them to declare him a terrorist and his agitation illegal.

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National President of Arewa Consultative Youth Forum, Shettima Yerima, explained sometime ago that the quit notice was just an aspect of many other demands they had made and that they were still expecting a response from the UN which would guide their next move.

History Of IGBO massacres across the Northern Nigeria:

It could also be as a result of the following killings of Igbos in the North:

Jos 1945
Kano genocide 1953
1966 pogroms- over 60,000 civilians were killed
May 29th 1967- over 200,000 civilians were killed.
1967-70 – over 3,100,0000 killed during the bloody civil war (Including the Asaba Genocide).
Kano 1980
Maiduguri 1982
Jimeta 1984
Gombe 1985
Zaria 1987
Kaduna & Kafanchan 1991
Bauchi & Katsina 1991
Kano 1991
Zangon-Kataf 1992
Funtua 1993
Kano 1994
Kaduna 2000
Kaduna 2001
Maiduguri 2001
Jos Maiden Crisis-Setember 2001
Kaduna 2002
Jos-November 2008 Beheading of Gideon Akaluka in December of 1996 in a POLICE STATION in Kano Saint Moritz killed
December 2001
Post April 2011 Presidential Election: 10 youth-corps men & women and numerous citizens murdered because
a Christian Southerner was elected.
Jos Christmas Eve 2010
Madalla Christmas day 2011
Mubi January 6 2012

And the list goes on and on. By the time you read this piece more people would have died in the East if the issue is not quickly addressed.

The fire of the recent reprisal attack of the IPOB on the Hausa community has to be doused to avoid loss of life in Northern Nigeria.