We want no part of your utopian republics - Ijaw youths flay Biafra, Oduduwa agitators -

The Ijaw Youth Council (IYC) says it would continue to pursue issues of strategic importance to the Ijaw people and the Niger Delta region rather than seeking to break up Nigeria.

The umbrella body of Ijaw youths worldwide stated this in a Saturday statement through the Chairman of its Transition Implementation Committee, Mr Kennedy Olorogun.

IYC, therefore, warned Biafra and Oduduwa Republics to leave the Ijaw nation out of their “utopian republics”, saying the Ijaw nation refused to be annexed to other imagined ethnonational territories.

The group said, “Today, the Ijaw nation is confronted with the renewed quest for nationalism within the Nigerian geopolitical arrangement. This may have been compelled other tribes, groups and ethnic nationalities in the country, such as the Oduduwa and various movements championing the Biafra cause to renew their agitation for self-determination.

“Whilst the Ijaw nation is not adverse to their cause, the forced annexation and fraudulent redrawing of the geographical boundaries of the Ijaw territories into their dream nations would no longer be tolerated.

“We are seizing this medium to inform the promoters and sponsors of the Oduduwa and Biafra republics that they should not include Ijaw territories in their acclaimed nations. The Ijaws are domiciled in Ondo, Edo, Delta, Bayelsa, Rivers and Akwa Ibom States and are prominently resident in all the States of the Niger Delta.

“In this wise, the Oduduwas and the Biafra secessionists should leave Ijaw territories out of their utopian republics. Ijaws are capable of governing themselves. In this vein, the Ijaw nation is watching the unfolding events within the Nigerian polity and at the fullness of time the Ijaw nation would state their position.”