Peter Obi Urges Unity As Canadian Woman’s Poison Comment Sparks Tribal Tensions

By Abioye Benjamin

The Labour Party presidential candidate in the 2023 elections, Peter Obi, has called on Nigerians to come together as one and reject any form of ethnic and religious division.

His plea followed the incident where a Nigerian woman living in Canada, Amaka Sunnberger, made threatening comments on TikTok, stating she would poison Yoruba and Benin people in Canada.

In response, Obi condemned Sunnberger’s remarks and acknowledged the complex reactions surrounding the issue in a post on his X handle. He addressed this in a full statement, saying: “Following my recent comment on the Nigerian woman living in Canada who made very distasteful comments against her fellow Nigerians. While condemning such a level of tribal and religious division, I have received a barrage of reactions from people, many of whom tried to justify their actions.”

“Some explained that her comments were in reaction to earlier hateful comments made by another Nigerian and reportedly directed at other Nigerians of the Igbo ethnicity which I also now condemn in the strongest terms,” Obi continued.

Videos had surfaced showing people from different tribes making threats against the Igbo community, and this sparked heated debates online. Many argued that Amaka’s response was a reaction to earlier hateful remarks. Some users on social media were upset that authorities quickly took action against Amaka but did not address these previous threats. One user commented, “Instead of Abike and NiDCOM to arrest the Benin man that threatened the Igbos first, they went after Amaka.”

Despite these differing opinions, Peter Obi maintained that all forms of hate and division must be stopped. “As I mentioned then, and still maintain now, tribal tension and religious division must not be allowed to grow among us. Such divisive and hateful comments and behaviors against one another should have no place among us,” he said.

Obi emphasized that Nigeria has bigger challenges that require unity. He stated, “We must remain one united nation, focused on solving the myriad of challenges facing us as a nation. We must unite against the further polarization of our nation along tribal, religious, and political lines, and focus on finding lasting solutions to the challenges of high insecurity, unbearable high cost of living, and leadership failure that has continued to weigh us down.”

Social media reactions showed frustration, especially among those who felt that not all those responsible for hateful speech were being held accountable. However, others supported Obi’s message, praising him for his fair and balanced approach. One user expressed gratitude, saying, “Thank you and God bless you for always being on the side of the truth.”

Obi concluded with a hopeful message for Nigeria’s future, calling for unity and peace to move the nation forward. “With faith in our nation, may we embrace unity and peace, so that we can achieve true progress, growth, and development in our nation. On one united and peaceful nation, shall the New Nigeria stand. It is POssible,” he said.

Obi’s words serve as a reminder that only through unity can Nigeria overcome its challenges and achieve lasting peace and progress.

See some reactions below:

@PureStanley1: “Anywhere you see their children (Igbo children) , unalive them both home and abroad” -A Benin man was boldly saying this on TikTok.

This clip was what led Amaka Sunnberger to say what she said. But instead of Abike and NiDCOM to arrest the Benin man that threatened the IGBOS first, they went after Amaka. And we know why!

There are many more videos from years ago and even recently where we have seen some Yoruba people not living in Nigeria (eg:Omobatala , Yoruba global, on TikTok) and some other Benin people not living in Nigeria(eg: wounded civilian and joy on TikTok) including one Nsima and one Otus all on TikTok inciting h@t€ against the igbos. Asking that the ¡gb0$ be unalived.

Amaka Sunnberger should give the Judge at the court this video. She should compile documents of all the threàts made against her pple by the yorubas and EDOS and give it to the judge at the court as evidence to what she reacted to.

@stanvicar: Why didn’t the house of rep write to get this ones arrested?

@chinnyzinny5050: @abikedabiri ,@PoliceNG @NGRSenate what will happen to these ones?

@Only1Favo: The beginning of the video was from a Yoruba. That Igbo girl l was watching before being brought up as a guest. It was when she was brought up she made those comment.

@foreigner24_6: Write to the government about them too
They should not be allowed to move freely too

@Ifeanyialgavera: All these should be sent to our reps in the upper and lower chamber immediately

@bello_mosun: Chai, so this one, we have to tag all countries o because he said everywhere.

@DonWashington07: This is madness 😠

@J_mknite: @abikedabiri @nidcom_gov Nigerians are still waiting for your reactions to this hatred against the Igbo race….. Amaka Sunberger has been arrested in Canada, so we are hoping you will use same energy on this on

@Lawrence_567: U just gained a new follower for not being biased
Thank u and God bless u for always being on side of the truth.

@KenChidozi2808: Waiting for @abikedabiri to do the right things is like waiting for Tinubu to truly participate in genuine, free and fair elections.

@mog14christ: This is barbaric and diabolic on every side.
Any attack on children is devilish, demonic and must be tackled fast.

@NickyIzrael: @abikedabiri
madam see am ooh!

@Emmaric42802032: @abikedabiri @PoliceNG @NGRSenate hope you guys have taken action already or is your actions only targeted at Igbos?.

@Dalumo: You guys are not smart, these events are orchestrated by politicians to create sentiment and tension so that voters will have hatred for Igbos. We have seen these play out in Lagos during the elections period. Every four four years! You should know where this is coming from!

@DgreyJW: So ur s£ns£\ess sense did not let u know dat it was d IBO’s dat started d hate speech against d binis and it was same speech d person was replying to on dis clip? Mugu