By Ezra Odogu
A joint force of the police and officials of the Directorate of State Service (DSS) yesterday arrested the Eze Ndigbo of Ajao Estate in Lagos, Fredrick Nwajagu, in an early morning raid after an inciting statement he made in a viral video.
Nwajagu was said to have fled when a combined team of police and SSS officials stormed his palace, but he was eventually traced to a hotel in Ejigbo part of the city and arrested at about 1 am on Saturday and kept in the custody of the DSS.
In a clip that surfaced on the internet on Friday, the Igbo chief, who was dressed in his royal traditional regalia, could be heard saying Igbo indigenes in Lagos must recruit members of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) for the safety of their properties.
IPOB was ranked as the 10th deadliest terror group in the world in the 2023 global terrorism index (GTI) ranking released on March 15.
In the said clip, Nwajagu had said: “IPOB, we will invite them. They have no job. All of the IPOB will protect all of our shops, and we have to pay them. We have to mobilise for that. We have to do that.”
He added: “We must have our security so that they will stop attacking us at midnight, in the morning, and in the afternoon.
“When they discover that we have our security before they come, they will know that we have our men there.
“I am not saying a single word to be hidden. I am not hiding my words. Let my words go viral. Igbo must get their rights and get standing in Lagos State.”
The spokesperson of the Lagos State Police Command, Benjamin Hundeyin, confirmed Nwajagu’s arrested yesterday. He, however, gave no further details as to how he was arrested.
A police source, however, revealed that the team stormed his palace but he fled and was eventually traced to a hotel in Ejigbo part of Lagos where he was arrested in the early morning of Saturday.
Some Igbo-dominated markets in parts of Lagos have experienced fire outbreaks in recent times, prompting talks of possible sabotage by some unknown persons.
