UN experts denounce ultimatum and death threats targeting Igbo minority

Nigeria: UN experts denounce ultimatum and death threats targeting Igbo minority

GENEVA (25 August 2017) – An ultimatum telling Nigeria’s Igbo minority in the north of the country to flee their homes is of “grave concern”, a group of United Nations human rights experts* has warned. The experts also deplored a hate song and audio message being circulated on the internet and on social media. The Hausa-language audio message urges northern Nigerians to destroy the property of Igbo people and kill anyone who refuses to leave by 1 October, the same date given in the ultimatum.

“We are gravely concerned about this proliferation of hate messages and incitement to violence against the Igbo and their property, especially considering the previous history of such violence,” the experts said. “The Government must be vigilant, as hate speech and incitement can endanger social cohesion and threaten peace by deepening the existing tensions between Nigeria’s ethnic communities.”

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