The Youth wing of the Apex Igbo socio-cultural organization, worldwide- Ohaneze youth council (OYC) has accused the governors of the South East, states of acting as double agents and are responsible for the myriad of violent activities in the South East region of Nigeria.
In a statement issued in Owerri on Thursday June 24 and made available to the media through the Special Assistant on Media and Publicity to the National President of the organisation,Chukwuemeka Chimerue, the group advised the governors to do the needful by tactfully embracing the jobless but responsible youths to avoid the escalation of violence and possible genocide in the south east.
They said, “the Ohanaeze Youth Council (OYC), the apex youth wing of Ohanaeze Ndigbo, Worldwide, have described the Southeast governors as a major factor constituting unrest and violence in the region.
While reacting on the blame game tactics against self-determination groups by Southeast governors and political stakeholders which include, former governors and deputy governors, past and present Senators, Federal House of Representative members, past and present ministers, past and present house of assembly members have contributed to the woes that has befall on the Southeast.
OYC National President, Comrade Igboayaka O. Igboayaka while addressing pressmen at a conference in Owerri on Thursday 24th June 2021, noted that 97% of Igbo youths have rejected the Southeast governors because of the neglect and outcry against injustices and marginalization against the Igbos.
“The insecurity in the Southeast has many categories: the external influence conspirators, the internal influence political actors, the unrest by dissatisfied youths that have lost confidence and trust in the governors, the neglect and killing of members of self-determination groups, the deliberate killing of Igbo youths by the Nigerian Army and Police and worst of all, the influx of killer Fulani herdsmen and jihadists in the region. If the issues above are not addressed, the worst period in the Southeast will be experienced in due time,” Igboayaka stated.
“It’s obvious that the silence and lack of pro-activeness on the part of Southeast governors over insecurity is a deliberate plan to undermine the youths. None of the Southeast governors has deemed it necessary to interface with the youths in the rural areas on the possible ways to restore peace in the region. Till today, none of the Southeast governors has enquired to know why the youths are violently angry. This lackadaisical way of Southeast governors treating a sensitive matter with levity has compelled the progressive Igbo youths believe that they are the real culprits fostering insecurity in the region.
“The two factors that have made Southeast governors not to support community vigilante is the fear of Aso Rock cabals and the fear of their political thugs being caught at scenes of crime which will lead to their exposure. But obviously, the dimension is changing rapidly as some of these thugs have been socially displaced with legal means of livehood.
“Without indigenous security outfits within the communities of Igbo extraction, all other measures or plans for security will collapse because security threats have local root, and a local measure must be adopted by a sincere government to fight crime. Youths in rural communities must be employed within the framework of the law to complement the efforts of the security agents. This is because our people have lost confidence in entrusting their lives in the hands of the Nigerian security agents. And as a result, the people cannot release any important security information to them as extra-judicial killings continue to be recorded frequently in the South East.
“Yes, there is an Open war going on against Ndigbo, and it became worst since 2015, the Governors and Federal government of Nigeria can’t deceive us. War is the act of killing people by a sovereign government; Nigeria government led by President Mohammadu Buhari is killing Igbo youths and members of self-determination group members in Igbo land which includes IPOB, Massob, Zonist, Eastern People Congress, Biafra National league and others. The agents of these killings going on in Igbo land are Nigeria army, police and fulani herdsmen.”
“The Southeast governors are like the crafty men who beat drums inside the bush and come to the road to ask who is beating the drums. Majority of the violent gangs are aggrieved thugs of the governors and Senators who they pushed aside, while they target to recruit new thugs.
“Our governors knows the good and bad boys; they are the architects of insecurity in the Southeast. They have not risen to their responsibilities to genuinely fight crime,” Igboayaka stated.
“The open rejection of self-determination by Southeast governors is a mere camouflage that will aggravate the demand of the youths to seek for a better, decent country for survival.
“To avoid much violence and damage, the Southeast governors must tactically embrace the youths. The zeal and force of Igbo youths on the self-determination project is heavier than the force of guns and bullets. Neither military force by Nigeria government nor the mere rejection by South East governors can stop the ideology of self-determination which the Igbo youths convincingly inherited from their fathers and mothers that lost their lives during the 1967-70 genocide”.
