Lagos, 28 October, 2020 / 8:48 pm (ACI Africa).
Attempts to invoke tribal and religious perspectives in the ongoing protests in Nigeria shifts the focus from the initial “noble cause” with the risk of derailing the entire initiative, the Archbishop of Nigeria’s Lagos Archdiocese has said.
In his Tuesday, October 27 statement, Archbishop Alfred Adewale Martins makes reference to videos circulating on social media that seem to invoke “ethnic and religious sentiments” and calls them part of “divisive message(s)” that should not be shared.
“We have seen people making social media postings trying to incite ethnic and religious sentiments in order to shift focus away from a noble cause spearheaded by the young,” Archbishop Adewale says.
One of the viral videos is that by the so-called leader of Young Yoruba for Freedom, Adeyinka Grandson who, in a post on October 23 targeted the Igbo in Lagos saying, “We are giving you 48-hour ultimatum from Friday till Sunday October 25, to leave Yoruba land. From Monday, we will close all roads and stop all vehicles across Yoruba land, and all Igbo nationals would be dealt with accordingly.”
The hate speech post has gained criticism from various leaders including the Lagos State Governor.