Northerners flee Warri, Sapele

The mass exodus by the northerners in Delta State continued to leave the state on Sunday as the Niger Delta Indigenous Movement for Radical Change issued a fresh 21-day ultimatum to them to move out of the area.

The ultimatum followed what the group said had been the killing of Christians in the North by Boko Haram, which recently demanded that all southerners should leave the North.

From Warri to Sapele and Asaba, the situation was the same as northerners were seen travelling with their luggage at motor parks in the cities.

The mass movement became more pronounced following Friday’s alleged looting of property belonging to the Muslim community in Sapele.

In Asaba, the Hausa community, it was learnt, had been moving in droves for fear of reprisal attacks in the area.

Chairman of Asaba Cattle Rearers Association, Alhaji Makuidi Ningi, expressed sadness over the prevailing insecurity in the country, calling on President Goodluck Jonathan to restore the confidence of the people in his administration.

But he explained that the northerners decided to leave the area to avoid being stuck in the state during the strike by Labour starting on Monday (today).

Ningi also confirmed that over 10,000 northerners had so far travelled out of Asaba as a proactive measure against reprisal attacks, adding that the security situation was becoming more precarious by the day.

In the fresh ultimatum, the Niger Delta group declared that the security of northerners in the region would no longer be guaranteed after the expiration of the 21-day deadline.

The statement by the group’s President, Nelly Emma; Secretary, John Sailor; and Public Relations Officer, Mukoro Stanley, described as senseless, the killings of Christians in the North by Boko Haram.

It therefore ordered all persons of northern extraction living in the South, East and West of the country to “return home within 21 days or be ready for reprisal attacks.”

Meanwhile, the Hausa Community in Rivers State has dispelled allegations that some of their people were killed in a market in Port Harcourt.

The Leader of the Northern Traditional Rulers in the state, Alhaji Salihu Kampala, said his people were enjoying the peaceful atmosphere in the state.

Kampala said though few Hausa youths, who were frightened by the rumour of killings in the state capital decided to leave, the majority of the community was not moved by the allegation of killing in a market.
Culled from punchng