Festus Keyamo, junior labour minister, has backed the genocidal threat of President Muhammadu Buhari against youths of Igbo extraction of the South-East region.
Mr Buhari, a retired military general elected president in 2015, on Tuesday evening threatened to deploy his civil war experience in quashing those he described as being young during the 30-month conflict that claimed millions of lives.
The Nigerian leader was reacting to destructions of state facilities by unknown gunmen in the Igbo predominantly area.
“Many of those misbehaving today are too young to be aware of the destruction and loss of lives that occurred during the Nigerian Civil War,” Buhari said in a Tweet. “Those of us in the fields for 30 months, who went through the war, will treat them in the language they understand.”
His remarks described as genocidal has been condemned by most Nigerians who asked why he refused to deploy his so-called experience in dealing with Boko Haram terrorists, bandits and violent herdsmen wrecking havoc from the North. Most of them have demanded the suspension of their president from the micro-blogging platform.
Backing his principal, Mr Keyamo, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), said elders of the South-East who are silent should not complain when the genocide starts because they were silent while the hoodlums were razing down infrastructures.
“I hope some elites who couldn’t find their voices to rein in their wards when their region burnt, will not suddenly find their voices against Mr. President!” the junior minister said on Twitter. “Those who screamed that it’s Mr. President’s duty to maintain law & order should NOT try to teach him how to do his job now.
The anger some are displaying against the President’s resolve to be decisive in dealing with these scoundrels is an indication of their support for the destruction of public infrastructure because they want to cripple Govt. A pure case of cutting your nose to spite your face!” the Delta-born politician added.
