#BBB NEWS| Igbo Groups Drag Oba Of Lagos To NHRC

As the flame of anger continues to burn over the death threat by the Oba of Lagos, Rilwanu Akiolu, on Igbos in Lagos if they failed to vote for his preferred governorship candidate Akinwumi Ambode of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Saturday's governorship election, Igbo groups in Lagos have dragged the Oba to the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC).

In a petition sent to the commission, the Ohaneze-Ndigbo Lagos and Igbo Justice Congress  called for its intervention to thwart the threat by Akiolu.

The petition signed by Hon. Innocent Arinze for Ohaneze Ndigbo and Arinze Ugwu for Igbo Justice Congress reads: "The entire Igbo people in Lagos State seek your intervention to forestall the threat by HRM Oba Akiolu, the Oba of Lagos to drown all Ndigbo in Lagos State inside the lagoon if they failed to vote his candidate, Mr Akinwumi Ambode of the APC Lagos.

"Sequel to a widely publicized write-up in almost all the national newspapers on the 6th of April on the aforementioned, we on behalf of the entire Ndigbo resident in Lagos State solicit  your intervention to avert a carnage that might follow the Kabiesi's threat as Ndigbo have always been targets of such threats in the past.

#BBB NEWS| Forgive Akiolu And Move On, Buhari Tells Igbo

The President-elect, Maj. Gen. Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), has urged the Ndigbo and other non-indigenes in Lagos State to forgive all that has been said against them and move on for the sake of peace.

Buhari said this during a rally in Lagos to address the comments made by the Oba of Lagos, Rilwan Akiolu.

Akiolu has been under fire since Monday when he reportedly threatened the Ndigbo in Lagos to either vote for the All Progressives Congress governorship candidate, Mr. Akinwunmi Ambode, or perish in the lagoon.

The Peoples Democratic Party on Tuesday asked Lagos State Governor Babatunde Fashola to suspend Akiolu forthwith.

However, the President-elect described Lagos as home for all, adding that the time had come for Nigerians to look past ethnicity in the general interest of peace and unity.

#BBB NEWS| Akinolu Can’t Speak For APC – Tinubu

Also speaking, a former Governor of Lagos State, Bola Tinubu, said Akiolu was not a member of the APC and could not speak on behalf of the party.

Tinubu, who noted that he was the first Yoruba governor to ever appoint an Igbo commissioner, said the Peoples Democratic Party, having failed to win last week’s presidential elections, had been desperately trying to pull the APC into the Akiolu controversy.

He said the coordinator of the Transformation Ambassadors of Nigeria, Ifeanyi Ubah, and the PDP leader, Bode George, were only making baseless accusations against the APC.

Tinubu said, “The Oba is not a politician. His job is to accommodate all political parties whether PDP, APC or SDP. So, what did he (Ubah) go and do at the palace? Is the Oba a politician?

#BBB NEWS| WATCH: Igbo Leaders Cheered On Oba of Lagos As He Delivered Anti-Igbo Speech [TRANSCRIPT/VIDEO]

While the Oba of Lagos, Rilwanu Akiolu, delivered apparently anti-Igbo remarks Sunday, sparking fierce nationwide backlash, Igbo leaders who were part of Mr. Akiolu’s audience, helped prod him on, joining other listeners in applauding the monarch as he spoke, audio and video recordings of the event show.

Mr. Akiolu had told a gathering which had the Eze Ndi-Igbos (Igbo traditional rulers) of all the local government areas in Lagos State that they should cast their votes for his chosen governorship candidate or “perish inside the lagoon”.

The Oba supports the governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress, Akinwunmi Ambode.

“On Saturday, if anyone of you goes against the Ambode I picked, that is your end. If it doesn’t happen within seven days, just know that I’m a bastard and it is not my father who born me,” Mr. Akiolu told the gathering.