The Eze Igbo, Ajao Estate, Lagos, Fredrick Nwajagu, has vowed to invite members of the proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) to Lagos to secure properties of Igbo people in the state.

Nwajagu, in a 49-second video, shared on Twitter on Friday by @DeeOneAyekooto, said the move became necessary in the wake of attacks on some Igbo people in the state.

The Igbo leader said he stood by his words, insisting that his people must have a stand in Lagos.

“IPOB, we will invite them. They have no job. All of the IPOB will protect all of our shops. And we have to pay them. We have to mobilise for that. We have to do that. We must have our own security so that they will stop attacking us in the midnight, in the morning, in the afternoon.

“When they discover that we have our own security, before they will come, they will know that we have our own men there. I am not saying a single word to be hidden. I am not hiding my words, let my words go viral. Igbo must get their right and get stand in Lagos State,” he said in the video.

Replying to the post, the Police Public Relations Officer in the state, SP Benjamin Hundeyin, said the command would resist IPOB presence in the state.

“To start with, the ever-ready @LagosPoliceNG will never fold its arms and allow such within the state,” he wrote.

When our correspondent contacted the PPRO to know whether Nwajagu had been invited by the police in respect of his remarks, he said, “we will give further update at the right time.”

Daily Trust reports that there has been a frosty relationship between Igbo and Yoruba ethnic groups in the state in the buildup to the 2023 general elections.

The situation degenerated after the presidential candidate of the Labour Party, Peter Obi, defeated his counterpart, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu in the state in the presidential poll.

Igbo voters in the state complained of being intimidated during the March 18 governorship election and that many of them were prevented from exercising their franchise.