Hardworking governor, Theodore Orji of Abia State has appealed to northerners to stop killing Ndigbo and destroying their properties. He said in an interview recently that Ndigbo have the right to live anywhere in the country and pursue their legitimate business. Hear him; “We have discussed this thing at the meeting. You see, our concern first and foremost is for the lives of our people to be safe. You know our people travel a lot to pursue their businesses. Since we are particularly traders, we move everywhere. So, our concern is that Ndigbo should live in peace with their host communities, whether it is in the South, North or West.

But right now, our concern is the north where they are being killed. As long as they are there living in peace, we are appealing to our brothers in the north to stop killing our people who have come to live peacefully with them in pursuit of their livelihood because the constitution allows it. Therefore, our stand is not for Ndigbo to come back enmasse but to remain there and protect themselves by any means possible because this is Nigeria, owned corporately by all of us. You can’t drive anybody away, so we urge our people to remain where they are, do their businesses peacefully and protect themselves because if you allow all Igbos to come home, where are they going to begin?

These are people who have added value to wherever they have been. These are people who have hotels, houses and industries where they have been living from generation to generation. Once they are not causing trouble in your community, allow them to stay, that is our stand”.