The Ohanaeze Youth Council, OYC, has decried what it called the poor provision made for the South-East in the 2016 budget proposal by President Muhammadu Buhari.
The group said it was wondering why the federal government allocated billions of naira to the North-East, the presidency and other areas, “whereas only a marginal amount was allocated to job provision and youth empowerment which is the root cause of the restiveness in all parts of the country.”
In a statement signed by its secretary general, Mazi Okwu Nnabuike and Mazi Alex Okemiri, the group accused the federal government of deliberately marginalising the South-East in the scheme of things.
It stated that “the South-East is supposed to be declared a disaster zone going by long years of neglect. Nothing short of the scheme for Niger Delta youths and militants and creation of the Ministry of South East Affairs will assuage the suffering Igbo youths who are the worst treated in the country.”
The group also warned the Nigerian Army not to repeat the alleged provocative killings it carried out at Onitsha recently, while calling on the military high command “to fish out the soldiers that used live bullet on unarmed protesters, else we will write officially to the International Criminal Court over the matter”.
They wondered what rule of engagement would make the army use live bullets instead of rubber bullets and tear gas on unarmed protesters.
The youth council also called on security agents to apprehend some persons they described as impostors, who according to them “have been going about claiming to be Presidents of the council and extorting money from members of the unsuspecting public, and planning violent attack on the South-East states.
“The Youth wing of Ohanaeze Ndigbo is currently under the leadership of Mazi Okechukwu Isiguzoro at Ohanaeze National Secretariat 7 park Avenue Gra Enugu”, the statement further stated. (Daily Post)
