Yoruba Nation’s association with IPOB shocking – Presidency

Presidency expresses shock over Yoruba Nation agitators’ association with IPOB

The Presidency says the Yoruba Nation advocates cannot expect to be taken seriously for as long as they continue to associate and publicly identify with an outlawed organization like the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB).

In a statement by Garba Shehu, the president’s Senior Special Assistant (Media & Publicity), the presidency said it is not expected for Nigerian diaspora to use the platform of the United Nations General Assembly to garner attention for their cause, but that it was “shocking” to see Yoruba Nation advocates publicly teaming up with IPOB – a designated terrorist organization it says now has 50,000-strong paramilitary arm.

“It regularly murders security services and innocent civilians, with a significant uptick of violent attacks this year. And it is currently attempting to hold Nigerian states hostage with orders to stay at home under threat of terror,” it stated.

Shehu said Nigerians and the entire world “would judge Yoruba Nation by the company it keeps.”

“No one can take this organisation seriously if it continues its IPOB association. When their allies systematically trample human rights, it raises sober questions about their claims to uphold the values of the UN.

“The cooperation is a worrying development, once parsed with Yoruba Nation’s increasingly violent rallies in Nigeria.”

He, however, said the President Muhammadu Buhari administration would not be distracted and would continue its work at the UN, to fight against corruption and illicit financial flows.

“The government will remain the leading regional actor in the fight against global terror – particularly against threats emanating from the Sahel. Through the Nigerian Technical Aid Corps programme, the country also shares technical expertise with countries from the Caribbean, Africa and the Pacific,” he added.

Shehu also said the administration is implementing a programme of environmental sustainability to combat developments that destroy Nigerian communities in vulnerable regions, adding that only through the 2030 Agenda on Sustainable Development can a prosperous future be secured for Nigeria.

He said it was expected, therefore, that the media would “work with the government to focus attention on the core issues the president, the leader of the country, has on his programme.”