On Friday, the Ebonyi State government refuted a viral video that portrayed its residents as miscreants and criminals in Anambra State.
The state government labeled the video as unfounded and the product of troublemakers and claimed that it was an effort to damage Ebonyians’ reputation in general.
Jude Okpor, the commissioner for information and state orientation, expressed the government’s displeasure when he hosted members of the Ohanaeze Ndigbo, the leading sociocultural group in Igboland, at his office in Abakaliki on Friday.
While calling on the leadership of Ohanaeze to stand firm and defend the ancestral and historical integrity of all citizens of Ndigbo, he said, “No Igbo man can attain the level of sainthood by tarnishing the image of his brother.”
He added, “We call on the apex Igbo socio-cultural organisation, Ohanaeze Ndigbo, to remain a leading umbrella of unity and progress in the zone.
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“We affirm that no Igbo man can attain the level of sainthood by tarnishing the image of his or her brother, but would summarily dent the collective image of the Igbo nation.
“We enjoin the group’s leadership to use their influence in extending the content of their slogan, “Onye Aghana Nwanneya” in propagating the unity and oneness of the people of the zone.”
He described Ebonyi indigenes in all parts of the world as industrious, hardworking, law-abiding and condemned the criminal activities involving Ebonyians.
He maintained that the few relative hoodlums could not be used to generalise Ebonyi people as criminals.
Recall a video currently trending online shows five brutalised young men, making confessional statements to the commission of various crimes in Anambra State.
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