Ohanaeze Ndigbo, the leading sociocultural organisation of the Igbo people, claims it will not obstruct the Department of State Services’ (DSS) investigation into suspended Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Governor Godwin Emefiele.
President Bola Tinubu suspended Emefiele on Friday and appointed Folashodun Shonubi, the Deputy Governor of the apex bank’s Operations Directorate, to serve in an acting capacity.
Emefiele was suspended, and the DSS revealed on Saturday that it had detained him for “some investigative reasons.”
A statement attributed to Ohanaeze Ndigbo Worldwide and signed by a man named Chima Uzor appeared after various groups responded to Emefiele’s arrest, calling Emefiele’s suspension “ethnic cleansing.”
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Though Uzor and his group have no affiliation with Ohanaeze, the President-General of Ohanaeze Ndigbo, Emmanuel Iwuanyanwu, requested on Sunday that security personnel detain Uzor for allegedly impersonating the Ohanaeze Ndigbo.
Iwuanyanwu continued, saying:
My attention has been drawn to a publication making the rounds by one MAZI CHIMA UZOR, who claimed to be the Director of National Interest Matters in Ohanaeze Ndigbo. In his publication, he claimed that Ohanaeze condemns Emefiele’s suspension, saying its ethnic cleansing. I want to state categorically that this is false in its entirety. I hereby state emphatically that:
Mazi Chima Uzor is an Impersonator and unknown to Ohanaeze Ndigbo Worldwide. There is no office for National Interest Matters in Ohanaeze Ndidigbo Worldwide. Ohanaeze has no intention whatsoever to interfere with investigations by the DSS or other Security agents of the Country.
Ohanaeze also has no intention whatsoever to interfere with the disciplinary actions by the Government on officials of the Government.
Individuals have a right to go to Court and when the Court of Law proves the individual innocent and Ohanaeze is convinced that the individual is innocent, Ohanaeze will take every step necessary to assist the individual. In the other hand, if the individual is guilty, the Ohanaeze will be unable to assist.
The case of Mazi Chima Uzor is a matter of criminal impersonation. By this disclaimer, we are requesting the security agents to treat this matter as a very serious criminal case.
We wish finally to alert the public to many fraudsters who are tarnishing the good name and reputation of Ohanaeze Ndigbo by making false publications in the name of Ohanaeze Ndigbo for selfish interests. We hope with the help of security agents, they will soon be flushed out.
