The Ikwerre ethnic nationality in Rivers State, represented by the Iwhnurohna Progressive Union (IPO), has rejected the assertion from Ohanaeze Ndigbo that they are part of the Igbo ethnic group.
IPO instead said that they are facing harassment as a result.
News Reporters reports that the President of IPO, Dr Okachikwu Dibia made this known during a media briefing in Abuja.
Dibia appealed to the Inspector-General of Police (IGP) Kayode Egbetokun, to intervene and address threats made by prominent Ohanaeze Ndigbo members against the Ikwerre people if they continued to reject the Igbo label.
He went further to outline eleven reasons- encompassing linguistic, historical and cultural differences, why Ikwerre should not be classified as Igbo.
“While Ikwerre is our political name, Iwhnurohna is our native name. Both refer to the same people: the Ikwerre ethnic nationality, found in Rivers State, Niger Delta, South South geopolitical region of Nigeria.
“When they say ‘Ikwerre is Igbo,’ they imply that all ancestral communities in Ikwerre originated from Igboland. This is not true,” Dibia said.
According to him, the claim that Iwhnurohna is Igbo, based on their language, was rooted in historical interactions and should not determine their ethnic identity.
“The Ikwerre Ethnic Nationality believes in one Nigeria,” he concluded.