The Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu, on Tuesday knocked the Indigenous People of Biafra and the Yoruba Nation movement for “tribal bullying of Nigerian government officials” at the just-concluded 76th session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York, United States of America.

He added that although protests were an accepted practice for “those who have something to say, tribal bullying is uncivilised.”

Shehu disclosed this in an opinion titled, ‘My takeaways from the 76th 2021 UN General Assembly session.’

Shehu said, “While President Buhari was focusing on the problems plaguing the nation and, in some instances, asking for international support to deal with such, a coalition of groups protested outside the UN building.

“This happens with all countries—the United States, UK, India, Iran, China, Egypt –  about everyone and about every conceivable issue but most especially climate change, gender and animal rights among others.

“There are some from the so-called Yoruba nation group and the so-called Indigenous People of Biafra terrorist group who worked together to protest outside the United Nations building in New York.

“They sought to claim astonishingly that somehow, they have earned rights through violence, murder of law enforcement agents and the innocent, and extortion to run their own affairs.

“Many Nigerians at home were disconcerted by the tribal bullying of government officials as they moved to carry out their diligent work between the Nigerian Mission in New York and the UN building, a distance of less than 400 meters.

“Protests are allowed by all who had anything to say. Tribal bullying is uncivilised; so is any effort to strengthen insurgency in the country.”

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The Presidency called the actions of the groups “an extraordinary misinterpretation of the principles of the United Nations” saying “there is no place in or before this organisation for racists, ethnic cleansers, and those who associate with them.”

He continued, “In Nigeria today, IPOB has created an armed terror wing, the Eastern Security Network, complete with a fascistic logo to coerce through violence innocent Nigerians, forcing them to protest against those of other ethnicities and religious beliefs and to lock down states and stop people from the pursuit of their legitimate aspirations.”

According to the Presidency, the Buhari regime is guaranteeing fundamental human rights and tackling climate change to achieve environmental sustainability.

It also said that Buhari’s success in getting Nigerians into key positions in international organizations is a result of government’s vision of global peace and concord.

“In addition to all these, President Buhari promised to take steps towards providing concrete frameworks for institutionalized diaspora engagement in Nigeria.

“Hopefully we will soon have Diaspora voting in elections in Nigeria,” Garba said.