Ohanaeze youths reject U.S. military action, demand referendum for Nigeria’s future

The Ohanaeze Ndigbo Youth Council (OYC) has rejected any plan by the United States to launch a military operation in Nigeria for religious reasons. Instead, the group is calling for international support to help organize a referendum that would let Nigerians decide their political future.

OYC President, Comrade Igboayaka O. Igboayaka, spoke to journalists in Owerri on Wednesday.

He said the group appreciates the U.S. concern about the killing of Christians in Nigeria, especially in the Southeast and Middle Belt regions, but warned that military intervention would not solve the problem.

According to Igboayaka, the real solution lies in allowing Nigerians, particularly the Igbo and Middle Belt people, to vote on their future through a peaceful referendum.

He stated that many Christians have been killed in Nigeria since 2015, when former President Muhammadu Buhari, a Muslim, came into power.

He also accused the government of using the fight against the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) as an excuse to target Christians.

Citing a report by the International Society for Civil Liberties and Rule of Law (Intersociety), OYC claimed that from 2015 to 2024, more than 46,000 Christians were killed by security forces, Fulani herdsmen, and bandits.

UBetween 2009 and 2023, over 125,000 Christians reportedly lost their lives in Nigeria.
Igboayaka recalled that in January 2017,

soldiers killed 20 peaceful IPOB members and injured over 70 others while they were celebrating Donald Trump’s election victory.

He urged Trump to honor the victims with a mass burial and to help secure the release of IPOB leader Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, who has been in detention for years.

OYC further said that statistics from the National Bureau of Statistics show over 614,000 Nigerians were killed due to insecurity between May 2023 and April 2024.

The group appealed to Trump to help end the killings by supporting a referendum within one year, arguing that it would prevent further bloodshed.

They explained that the violence against Christians is not only religious but also driven by land grabbing, political domination, and economic interests.

The council urged Trump, as a Christian leader, to act now, saying delay might mean future U.S. presidents would ignore the crisis.

They stressed that only a referendum can bring lasting peace to Nigeria, not a military invasion.

According to OYC, both Presidents Buhari and Tinubu have ignored the massacre of Christians and are only focused on politics and power.

The group warned that continued killings in the Southeast and Middle Belt could lead to a dangerous religious and ethnic war if a referendum is not conducted soon.

Finally, the OYC said Nnamdi Kanu’s imprisonment under two Muslim presidents was a result of his radio broadcasts exposing the killings of Christians in Nigeria.