The Ohanaeze Youth Council (OYC) has called on lawmakers from Nigeria’s South-East region, at both state and federal levels, to provide their constituents with firearms and other security equipment to counter rising insecurity in the region.
In a statement issued Thursday by OYC National President, Comrade Igboayaka O. Igboayaka, the group warned that the nation is “on the verge of collapse” and stressed that the safety of South-East communities must take priority over all other considerations.
Igboayaka highlighted the surge in killings and attacks by suspected armed herdsmen, bandits, and terrorists, urging legislators to channel constituency empowerment projects toward providing communities with self-defence tools.
“Only living individuals can benefit from laws meant to serve the people. Ndigbo’s primary objective now must be self-preservation amid the nation’s slide into brutality and ethnic cleansing,” he said.
The OYC leader further urged youth groups across local government areas to engage their representatives in the State Houses of Assembly, House of Representatives, and Senate, to initiate security-focused empowerment programs.
He criticized South-East governors for failing to ensure security and pointed out that existing regional security outfits have collapsed due to a lack of public trust. “Igbo youths have lost confidence in the capacity of governors to protect lives and property, resulting in the failure of all state-established security initiatives,” Igboayaka said.
The council dismissed repeated military operations in the region, including Python Dance and Udoka, as ineffective. “Community stakeholders, youth leaders, and the Ohanaeze president general should oversee the development of local security structures, free from political influence,” he added.
OYC called on legislators to prioritize security above all other constituency projects, urging them to redirect planned December 2025 empowerment programs to supply firearms and other defensive tools.
“Protection of lives and properties is the most critical constituency project for Ndigbo in this country,” Igboayaka concluded.
