Muhammad Nasidi, country director of the Remedi Foundation, says Igbo people protected the Hausa community against attacks during the Aba riots of 2000.
In 2000, violence broke out across communities in Aba, Abia state. The riot was a reaction to a crisis in Kaduna state.
Nasidi reflected on the incident during a special episode of 90Minutes Africa hosted by Rudolph Okonkwo to mark the 50th anniversary of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) scheme.
The ophthalmologist said as the secretary of the Hausa community at the time, he witnessed how Igbo people took northerners to the police station for safety.
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“The main Hausa community in the city was kept safe by the Igbos. As secretary of the Hausa community then, I recorded about 7,200 survivors, and most of them testified that it was the Igbo people who protected them,” he said.
“So I asked, if these people want us dead, why did they take us to the police station for safety? I saw a lot of Hausa people that worked for Igbo that were brought to the police station for protection.”
‘THEY ARE VERY HOSPITABLE’
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Nasidi said the incident and his experience as a corps member in Orlu, Imo state, convinced him that the people in south-east Nigeria are “very hospitable and accommodating”.
“These gestures made me believe that these crises were not out of general hatred or else those 7,200 people wouldn’t have survived,” he said.
“We would have been killed by the people who saved us. The Igbo are very hospitable and accommodating to their guests and will do everything to protect you.”
The medical expert said as a Muslim from the north, he was initially scared when he was posted to Imo but later realised that his fears were exaggerated.
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He added that his 16 years post-NYSC stay in the south-east was due to the friendly nature of residents in the area.
Nasidi also recounted how he was conferred with the title — Anya Oha 1 of Aba — by the traditional council of Aba for his medical services to residents of the area.
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