Governor Rochas Okorocha of Imo State has directed a committee, comprising notable traditional rulers in the state, to meet with the Oba of Lagos, Rilwan Akiolu I, over the recent death threat issued by the monarch to Ndigbo resident in Lagos State.
Following widespread reactions to the monarch’s threat to Ndigbo in Lagos to vote the All Progressives Congress governorship candidate in the state, Akinwunmi Ambode, or risk imminent death in the lagoon, Okorocha charged the committee with the task of resolving the matter immediately.
The team will be led by the Chairman of the Imo State Council of Traditional Rulers, Eze Samuel Ohiri.
The Committee is expected to have a one-on-one discussion with Akiolu over the threat and to extract a commitment from him.
The governor, who is also the Chairman of the APC Governors Forum, noted that though the traditional ruler was reported to have denied making the utterance, it was not enough to accept his refutal without monarchs from the South-East meeting with him to discuss the controversy and the way forward in the long existing relationship between the Igbo in Lagos and their host community.
Also, the Imo State Peoples Democratic Party on Wednesday described the monarch’s threat to Ndigbo as an empty, malicious and unwarranted threat.
In a statement by the partywhich was made available to our correspondent, the party condemned the death threat, saying it was unacceptable.
The party wondered why Akiolu, who is a first class traditional ruler, would be speaking for a political party.
It urged Ndigbo resident in Lagos and other parts of the country to come out en masse and vote according to their conscience on Saturday.
