Senator Ned Nwoko, Chairman of the Senate Committee on Reparation and Repatriation, has called on the Anioma people of Delta North to fully embrace their Igbo heritage, recalling a painful past when residents were forced to deny their ethnicity to survive.
Speaking in Asaba at a conference themed “Igbo Bu Ofu” (Igbos Are One), Nwoko urged his community to unite with their eastern kinsfolk in pursuit of unity and historical justice. He asserted that Anioma communities suffered attempts at ethnic cleansing during the Nigerian Civil War, which led many to conceal their Igbo identity.
Emphasizing that his campaign for the creation of Anioma State is not politically motivated, Nwoko described it as an effort to correct historical imbalances and align with Ohanaeze Ndigbo’s recognition of Anioma as integral to the Igbo nation. He traced the community’s origins through Igbo migration history, based on his academic background in history.
