‘I am married to Igbo’ – Man who issued Igbo quit notice

Alhaji Shettima Yerima, the leader of the Arewa Youth Coalition,
which issued the now withdrawn October 1st quit notice to Igbos in
the North, has said that he has no personal problem with Igbo
people.

“A lot of my friends are Igbo people. I have nothing against the
Igbo,” The Sun quoted him as saying.

“It did not end there; let me also demonstrate that to you; my
first wife is from Calabar, the old south-eastern region. We have
two kids. I have a good relationship with the Igbo.”

On the rejection of the withdrawal of the quit notice by the
Independent People of Biafra (IPOB), Shettima said he did not do it
for Kanu.

“Did I do it for him or in the interest of the country? His
rejection of the suspension of the quit notice is not important to
me,” he said.

“What we did was to demonstrate that we have a culture. We give
respect to our elders and it was to ensure that the country remains
together. The country is above anybody. On that basis, his
acceptance or not is not important but I know that he also is not
speaking for the Igbo. It is a minority view of few people making
all sorts of noise.

“It is not really important to me and I do not want to join
issues with them. Nigeria is above everybody and I stand on the
path of one united country. We have to build a nation that we can
call our own.”

When asked about some other northern youth would who have
ignored the withdrawal, he said:

“Nobody would do anything. Anybody who does anything, we make
sure that the authorities arrest the person. We are in charge.

“Nobody should be scared of anything. Our youths are reasonable;
they are known to respect one another; we listen to our leaders
unlike some other parts of the country. But having said that, you
can be rest assured that there is no cause for alarm.

“So, let Nigerians be rest assured that nothing would befall
anybody by God’s grace and we are working towards that and we would
give the government the maximum support. Our brothers across board,
we would make sure that no evil would befall them. That is the
position of things.”

Alhaji Shettima Yerima, the leader of the Arewa Youth Coalition,
which issued the now withdrawn October 1st quit notice to Igbos in
the North, has said that he has no personal problem with Igbo
people.

“A lot of my friends are Igbo people. I have nothing against the
Igbo,” The Sun quoted him as saying.

“It did not end there; let me also demonstrate that to you; my
first wife is from Calabar, the old south-eastern region. We have
two kids. I have a good relationship with the Igbo.”

On the rejection of the withdrawal of the quit notice by the
Independent People of Biafra (IPOB), Shettima said he did not do it
for Kanu.

“Did I do it for him or in the interest of the country? His
rejection of the suspension of the quit notice is not important to
me,” he said.

“What we did was to demonstrate that we have a culture. We give
respect to our elders and it was to ensure that the country remains
together. The country is above anybody. On that basis, his
acceptance or not is not important but I know that he also is not
speaking for the Igbo. It is a minority view of few people making
all sorts of noise.

“It is not really important to me and I do not want to join
issues with them. Nigeria is above everybody and I stand on the
path of one united country. We have to build a nation that we can
call our own.”

When asked about some other northern youth would who have
ignored the withdrawal, he said:

“Nobody would do anything. Anybody who does anything, we make
sure that the authorities arrest the person. We are in charge.

“Nobody should be scared of anything. Our youths are reasonable;
they are known to respect one another; we listen to our leaders
unlike some other parts of the country. But having said that, you
can be rest assured that there is no cause for alarm.

“So, let Nigerians be rest assured that nothing would befall
anybody by God’s grace and we are working towards that and we would
give the government the maximum support. Our brothers across board,
we would make sure that no evil would befall them. That is the
position of things.”