Former Abia State governor, Dr Orji Uzor Kalu yesterday expressed sadness over the interminable killings of Igbo Christians and Southerners in Northern Nigeria and called for an end to the orgy.

In a statement, Kalu said it was unacceptable that the Igbo have come to be targeted whenever there is a disagreement or crisis and called on Igbo leaders in the country to rise and speak up against the dangerous trend, before it descends into another war.

Expressing further disgust, he said “Everyday, Igbo people in the North are now being slaughtered in huge numbers, and the Federal Government appears clueless, helpless, and incapable of coming to the defence of these citizens. Unfortunately Northern political leaders have made statements and interventions that further question the essence and founding vision of one Nigeria”.

He observed that the ingredients that caused the last civil war have been thrown into the mix, adding that massive budgetary allocation to defence and security has not helped matters.

Orji upbraided the Islamic sect behind the killings, warning that the reluctance of the Igbo to resort to revenge was not out of cowardice but because of their belief in the rule of law and the capacity of the Federal Government to protect its citizens.

Quoting the nation’s literary icons (Chinua Achebe, Wole Soyinka, and J. P. Clark ) in their reaction to the unfolding national tragedy; he said “All who possess any iota of influence or authority, who aspire to moral leadership must act now to douse the first flickers of ‘responses in kind, even before they are manifested, and become contagious.”

Kalu advised Christians and Southerners not to rest on their oars but to seek measures to defend themselves, if help will not come from within “Christians (Northern and Southern) and al southerners must also refuse to be made scapegoats and must get together to resist these unwarranted attacks. If the attackers get help from outside the country to attack, Christians and southerners should also do the same to defend, if help will not come from within.

If we are singled out for attack again, we shall no longer turn the other cheek but shall demand and eye or an eye” he concluded.