Shettima Yerima, leader of the Arewa Youths Consultative Forum, says he is not on the run over the quit notice issued to the Igbo in the north.
Speaking with journalists on Wednesday, the youth leader said he would submit himself if declared wanted, but that for now, no one is looking for him.
Yerima alongside other northern youth leaders had asked the Igbo in the region to leave – a move that attracted widespread condemnation.
Although Nasir El-Rufai, governor of Kaduna state – where the notice was issued – had ordered the arrest of the youth, the police are yet to implement the order.
Yerima said he is not above the law and that he is willing to submit himself to the police if asked to.
“I did not go into hiding and will never go into hiding. We need to put the record straight,” he said.
“For now, nobody is looking for me and I am ready to submit myself if I am called. I am not a joker. Nobody is looking for me and I am not hiding anywhere from anybody. I am in my village, I am a Nigerian. If anybody looks for me, I will submit myself. I am not above the law. I am not on the run.
“Why should I go into hiding? I have a name, I have a face. I am not faceless. I am not hiding anywhere. Why should I hide? Where did I go wrong?”
He said the groups were justified in the quit notice issued to the Igbo and that there was nothing wrong about it.
“Somebody wants to go and I said, ‘go, you’re free to go’. What’s wrong with that?” he asked.
“You cannot be in our country and begin to clamour for another country. Go to your place and declare your own country, not in my zone. It is a simple language. I have not committed any offence.”
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