By Harry Awurumibe, Editor, Abuja Bureau
It is fast becoming clear that Mr. Bayo Onanuga, the Spokesman of the All Progressives Congress (APC) Presidential Campaign Council (APC-PCC) might be a guest of the International Criminal Court (ICC), as the world body finally received and filed the criminal complaints against him by one Gideon Christian over the threat of Igbo people residing in Lagos.
Onanuga who is also Director of Tinubu-Shettima Presidential Campaigns, had aligned with the camp of Yoruba people threatening the Igbos living in Lagos state for daring to vote against the APC in Lagos during the just concluded general elections.
Prompted by the threat, Christian, filed a letter to the ICC to investigate Onanuga’s involvement in the election and post-election violence in Nigeria, particularly his incitement of the Yoruba people against their Igbo neighbours in Lagos.
Acknowledging the receipt of the letter, Mark P. Dillon, Head of Information & Evidence Unit, Office of The Prosecutor for the ICC, acknowledged the receipt of the petition in a letter dated March 27, 2023, with reference number OTP-CR-109/23, was quoted as saying that the letter was received and duly entered in Communications Register of the ICC.
The letter read in parts: “The Office of the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court acknowledges receipt of your documents/letter. This communication has been duly entered in the Communications Register of the Office. We will give consideration to this communication, as appropriate, in accordance with the provisions of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court.
“Please note this acknowledgement letter does not mean an investigation has been opened, or that an investigation will be opened by the Office of the Prosecutor. As soon as a decision is reached, we will inform you, in writing, and provide you with reasons for this decision.”
The apex-Igbo socio-cultural organisation, Ohanaeze Ndigbo Worldwide, recently raised alarm on the various intimidation and nefarious acts unleashed at Igbo people residing in Lagos state before and during the just concluded general elections, describing them as barefaced brutality, repression, and existential threat.
Ohanaeze particularly chided some Yoruba personalities such as Bayo Onanuga, and Musiliu Akinsanya aka MC Oluomo who is the Chairman of Lagos State Parks Management Committee, over their anti-Igbo slur that have been greeted with backlash.
The organisation added: “A few days ago, Mr Bayo Onanuga, the spokesperson for Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, issued a “last warning” threat to Igbos in Lagos State warning them to stop “interfering” with politics in the state. Onanuga added that “this year 2023 should be the last time they should interfere in Lagos politics, stating that “the state belongs to Yorubas” and “let there be no repeat in 2027” and that the “Igbo are not Lagosians but mere strangers from another ethnic group.”
“Onanuga maintained that “Igbo are merely tolerated in Lagos.” Without remorse, Onanuga insisted: “I owe no one any apology for addressing the existential threats of my Yoruba stock”; insisting that “I am after all, first of all, a Yoruba, before being a Nigerian.”
Many groups and individuals, have criticised Onanuga for the reckless outbursts.
