The umbrella body of the Yoruba Self-Determination Groups, Ilana Omo Oodua, has insisted on staging its ongoing one million-man freedom march at the United Nations headquarters in New York, US, on September 24.
The determination group had kickstarted the one million-man march on September 14, the exact day the 76th United Nations General Assembly opened.
The group had said that the decision to hold the March was hinged on the need to show the world the alleged atrocities being committed by fulani herdsmen in Nigeria. The group explained that the world deserved to know the alleged “genocide” being perpetrated by murderous herdsmen in the name of grazing in the South and Middle-Belt of Nigeria.
However, the Federal Government had since criticised the protesters.
A statement signed by presidential spokesperson, Garba Shehu had knocked the protesters for using the world’s largest platform to garner attention for what he termed an ‘unserious cause’.
Reacting, the spokesperson for the group, Maxwell Adeleye insisted that the agitators will continue to show their grievances to the world. He added that there would be a major protest on September 24, a day billed for President Muhammadu Buhari to address the General Assembly.
Adeleye, who spoke with the PUNCH added that no amount of threat by the Presidency would stop the agitators from progressing with their plan.
In his words, “We are ready to hold a peaceful march. It will be historic and the UN Assembly will feel our presence more on that day. It will also be the mother of all protests in terms of population.
“You saw the threat by Garba Shehu (Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity). But that only shows that they are jittery. Any attempt to rubbish our march will fail. We are peace-loving and we will continue to ensure that our actions are peaceful. We have no business with IPOB. However, FG should declare the real terrorists as insurgents. They are Myetti Allah. They should be declared terrorists.”
