Ohanaeze Ndigbo Denounce Viral Video Promoting Violence Against Yoruba and Benin People

Apex Igbo leadership, Ohanaeze Ndigbo Worldwide, has towed an exemplary line and condemned in the strongest terms possible a viral video circulating on social media made in Canada by an individual encouraging attack on members of Yoruba and Benin communities in Canada. The video, posted by a user identified as “@Anyi_anambra” on TikTok and whose purported real name is Amaka Patience Sunnberger, has sparked widespread concern, even though the TikTok video has reportedly been deleted.

In response, Ohanaeze Ndigbo issued a statement Thursday, August 29, dismissing the video as the work of a “deranged psychopath” and an “ethnic bigot.” The organization doubts whether the person in question is an Igbo because “She does not in any way portray the Igbo character of thoughtfulness, discretion, self-censure, and equanimity.”

Ambassador Okey Emuchay, Secretary General of Ohanaeze Ndigbo Worldwide, who signed the statement, condemned the video’s content and its creator, labeling them “mischief-makers” and describing her as “merchants of woes who deploy despicable and incendiary rhetoric to create ethnic mistrust and conflicts where none exist.”

A very disturbing video of some Nigerians on Tiktok planning the de@th of other Nigerians in Canada 🇨🇦. This post is for awareness purposes only. Be careful out there folks.

📺 IG/Eddyosaman pic.twitter.com/uVRliP7voK

— Dami’ Adenuga (@DAMIADENUGA) August 27, 2024

Ohanaeze reaffirmed the deep cultural and historical connections between the Igbo, “Yoruba, and Edo brothers,” highlighting the long-standing relationships and intermarriages that have strengthened ties between these communities.

Ohanaeze assured the Yoruba and Edo communities that the threats made in the video are “idiotic, meaningless, and vacuous,” urging them to disregard the inflammatory rhetoric. The organization also called on Nigerian security agencies to ensure that “the perpetrators of this macabre dance face the full weight of the law.”

But this is another example of the increasing number of ethnic incendiary commentaries in recent times. Online videos exist in which several persons have openly made genocidal threats against the Igbo tribe. One such was in April 2015 when the Oba of Lagos, Rilwan Akiolu, threatened to “drown Igbos in the Lagoon” if they voted differently from his choice. And recently, #IgboMustGo – a campaign to expel Igbos from South West Nigeria, trended on social media in the wake of EndBadGovernance protests earlier in the months.

In some of those events, leadership from those regions, including the president, were called upon to speak out more forcefully against such bigotry and compel those fanning the embers of disunity to face the law.

Ohanaeze’s statement concluded with a call for unity and the elevation of the fraternity that has historically existed between the Igbo, Edo and Yoruba peoples.

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