The leadership of the Indigenous People of Biafra has cautioned youth from the Southeast region against applying for enlistment in the Nigerian Army.
IPOB’s spokesperson, Emma Powerful in a statement on Tuesday, said Military’s call for youths of Igbo extraction to join the Army is aimed at exploiting the people.
Recall that over the weekend, delegates of the Nigerian Military had visited some states in the Southeast and South-South region calling on youth from the area to join the Army.
According to the Army delegates, the number of youths joining the force from the two regions have continued to diminish over time leaving the Igbos with slim chances of ever securing positions in the Military hierarchy in the future
However, reacting to the call, the IPOB accused the Military of planning to use Southeast youths as ‘sacrificial lambs’ in the decade-long insurgency battle, particularly in the northern regions of Nigeria.
“We caution Ndigbo against encouraging and campaigning for Igbo youths to enlist to combat state and foreign-sponsored terrorists who have more resources than the Nigerian Army,” Powerful stated.
“What actions has the Nigerian government taken to support the families of soldiers who died in active duty defending Nigeria?
“Why were the valiant Igbo soldiers who allied with their peers to prevent Nigeria’s downfall in 1966 characterized, betrayed, and labeled “the Igbo coup plotters,” resulting in the slaughter of thousands of Ndigbo in the North during that same year?” IPOB queried.
