…As Ohanaeze Youths renew secession call
Fresh controversy has erupted over Nigeria’s unity, following a warning by Islamic cleric Sheikh Ahmad Gumi that Israel is allegedly planning to support the Biafra movement, even as the Ohanaeze Youth Council (OYC) urged Igbos in the South-East to begin preparations for an “eventual exit” from Nigeria.
Sheikh Gumi, in an issued statement yesterday, raised alarm over what he described as external interference in Nigeria’s internal affairs, claiming that Israel was poised to assist the Biafra cause.
Recall that Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu had said Israel is working on an agenda to support beleaguered Christian communities in Nigeria.
Netanyahu spoke last Friday during a meeting with evangelical community leaders in Florida while touting Israel as the only country in the word capable of protecting Christians. “I see the battle against us and the battle against our Judeo-Christian tradition, basically being waged around the globe. And it’s waged primarily by two forces — radical Shiite Islam and radical Sunni Islam”, he stated.
He warned that such a development could further destabilise the country and insisted it “must be stopped” in the interest of national unity and security.
Although no official evidence was provided to back the claim, the cleric’s remarks have reignited debate around separatist agitations and foreign interests in Nigeria’s long-running national question.
The warning comes amid renewed secessionist rhetoric from the South-East region. In a New Year message issued on January 1, 2026, the Ohanaeze Youth Council called on Ndigbo to begin preparing “mentally, politically, economically, and diplomatically” for what it termed an inevitable departure from Nigeria.
In the message signed by its National President, Igboayaka Igboayaka, the Council cited decades of marginalisation, insecurity and unresolved post-civil war injustices as reasons for its position, arguing that the Nigerian state had failed the Igbo people.
“As we enter a New Year, truth must be spoken plainly and without fear,” Igboayaka said, likening the Igbo experience in Nigeria to that of “the Jews in Egypt,” and urging his people to “stop dying in Nigeria”.
He traced current grievances to the aftermath of the 1967–1970 civil war, alleging that the federal government’s Reconstruction, Rehabilitation and Reconciliation (3Rs) programme was never implemented in Igboland. He also criticised the policy of returning £20 to Igbo citizens regardless of their pre-war bank balances, describing it as economic dispossession.
According to him, the resurgence of pro-Biafra groups such as MASSOB and IPOB is a consequence of unresolved historical injustices, not a product of rebellion for its own sake. He further condemned the arrest and continued detention of IPOB leader, Nnamdi Kanu, describing it as an “extraordinary rendition” and a breach of international law, while calling on President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to order his unconditional release.
Igboayaka accused Nigeria’s political elite of corruption and economic mismanagement, arguing that the country had lost the moral authority to demand unity and patriotism from a people who feel excluded and profiled.
He announced that the Ohanaeze Youth Council would intensify mobilisation across the South-East ahead of the 2027 general elections and lead campaigns throughout 2026 for a referendum or plebiscite on self-determination, which he said is guaranteed under international law.
“Unity without justice is oppression, and unity without consent is occupation,” he said, rejecting what he described as Nigeria’s “forced and involuntary unity” since the 1914 amalgamation.
The OYC leader also called on traditional rulers and community leaders to collaborate on local vigilante efforts to protect lives and property, while warning against the use of force on proponents of a referendum, saying a repeat of civil war–era violence must be avoided.
