The Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF) is set to meet with Ohanaeze Ndigbo, Afenifere, and PANDEF as part of efforts to sanitise the fragile peace bedevilling the country.
National Chairman of the forum, Chief Audu Ogbeh, made this known in a communique released on Thursday.
The forum noted that the meeting will discuss the lingering issues in the country that have tended to pitch ethnic and regional groups against each other.
It also commended the South-East leaders for disowning the Indigenous Peoples of Biafra (IPOB) and Eastern Security Network (ESN).
The forum called on the elders to take concrete measures to ensure that such agitations come to an end.
While assuring them of Igbo’s protection in the North, the forum called on the South-East leaders to stop their people from harassing and killing the ordinary Northerners plying their trade in their region.
The forum noted that from reports reaching them, ordinary citizens who are earning their daily life are being attacked in the South East.
The communique reads: “The ACF notes that the South-East Leaders called on Northern leaders to protect their indigenes who are living in the North. We wish to assure them that all Igbos who are living in the North are guaranteed their personal security; sometimes they enjoy a security which even Northerners do not enjoy.
“On the other hand, we have received reports on a daily basis of Northerners, ordinary citizens who are earning their daily life as nail cutters, suya makers, shoe shiners, onion sellers, are being bullied, beaten and even killed.
“We hope these ordinary Northerners are given the same protection we have given the South-Easterners in our midst.
“In the very near future, the Forum hopes to meet with leaders of Ohanaeze Ndi Igbo, Afenifere and South-South leaders to discuss the lingering issues in the country that have tended to pitch ethnic and regional groups against each other.”
The forum also commended two Northern governors, Senator Atiku Bagudu of Kebbi State and Professor Umara Zulum of Borno for demonstrating unusual courage in their fight against terrorism in their states.
The forum urged other governors in the North to demonstrate similar bravery in the fight against insecurity that is ruining everything that the region has always stood for.
It also praised the gallantry of the fighting forces who against all odds have continued to risk their own lives in the fight against banditry and insurgencies.
This article was originally published on Nigeria News