Sixteen Muslim youth organisations issued an ultimatum for the predominantly Christian Igbo tribe to leave northern Nigeria by 1 October 2017.
Regional governors in Kaduna state were reportedly planning to send buses to evacuate Igbo communities, but the Muslim state governor, Nasir El-Rufai, intervened to halt the plans and ordered the arrest of the signatories to the anti-Igbo ultimatum. The government states it has been consistent in taking action to punish hate speech and incitement: ‘People … cannot use our state to do or say things that threaten the peace.’
