The Ohanaeze Ndigbo Worldwide on Sunday called on President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to urgently address what it described as the exclusion of 1,443 repentant Igbo militants from the federal government’s amnesty programme.
In a statement, the apex Igbo socio-cultural organisation expressed concern that the military’s Operation Safe Corridor (OPSC) has continued to overlook former Biafra agitators of Igbo extraction despite processing thousands of ex-combatants.
The group said over 2,600 repentant fighters passed through the rehabilitation programme since its inception and yet, none are reported to be Igbo.
Ohanaeze commended the federal government for granting amnesty to about 700 repentant insurgents linked to Boko Haram and Islamic State West Africa Province, adding that reintegration efforts are vital for national security.
The organization however questioned what it described as a “glaring imbalance” in the implementation of the programme, asking why repentant militants from the South east have been excluded.
“Ohanaeze Ndigbo finds it disturbing that while hundreds of former terrorists from the north are being rehabilitated and reintegrated, over 1,400 repentant Igbo militants remain excluded,” the statement said.
The group further described the development as part of a broader pattern of marginalisation against the South east, while alleging that Ndigbo have also been sidelined in previous federal amnesty initiatives and security recruitment processes.