The Igbo National Council (INC) has called on Governor of Ebonyi State, Francis Nwifuru to order the immediate and unconditional release of the Ohanaeze Youth Council (OYC), President, Igboayaka Igboayaka.
It was earlier reported on how Igboayaka was detained by the Governor Francis Nwifuru-led Ebonyi State government over a statement he issued after the deadly herdsmen attacks on Amegu village, Nkalaha community in the Ishielu Local Government Area of the state.
He was reportedly abducted by armed men on Saturday night at Ochez Suites, Works Layout, Owerri, Imo State capital shortly after he was declared the winner of the OYC presidential election at the Council’s national convention.
The Ebonyi State Police Public Relations Officer of the Command, DSP Joshua Ukandu, while confirming his detention in a statement issued on Monday in Abakaliki, had said Igboayaka was arrested, following a petition submitted to the Commissioner of Police in the state.
The police spokesperson had said that the petitioner whose identity he did not disclose, accused Igboayaka of spreading false information capable of truncating peace and destabilising communities in the state.
However, IYC in a statement on Wednesday condemned the abduction of Igboayaka Igboayaka, accusing the Governor of Ebonyi State, Francis Nwifuru, of orchestrating the incident.
He alleged that the abduction was linked to the defeat of Governor Nwifuru’s preferred candidate in the election.
In the statement, INC President, Chilos Godsend, described the development as a politically motivated attack that could further worsen insecurity in the South-East.
According to Godsend, the incident occurred on Saturday, February 8, 2025, at Works Layout, Owerri, Imo State, shortly after Igboayaka was declared the winner of the fourth National Election Convention of the OYC.
He alleged that the abduction was linked to the defeat of Governor Nwifuru’s preferred candidate in the election.
He said, “Nigerian youths in solidarity with youths of the Igbo nation have condemned in strong terms the illegal and unwarranted neo-mafia Gestapo-style abduction of the President of Ohanaeze Youth Council by the Ebonyi State Police Command.
“The ugly incident which took place on Saturday, February 8, 2025, at Works Layout, Owerri, Imo State, a few minutes after Comrade Igboayaka was declared the winner of the fourth National Election Convention of the OYC, which took place in Owerri is viewed to be politically motivated as the candidate of the governor of Ebonyi State may have lost the bid for the Presidency of OYC.
“Speculation has it that the illegal abduction of the OYC President by the Ebonyi State Police Command was on the instruction of the executive governor of Ebonyi State, Francis Nwifuru, whose candidate in the election lost to Comrade Igboayaka.
“The abduction of Comrade Igboayaka in Owerri by a team of police from a neighbouring state without due process calls for the review of the security architecture in the South-East region of Nigeria.
“This neo-mafia Gestapo-style abduction of a popular youth activist brutally violates the provisions of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria as amended.
“Finally, we are calling on His Excellency, Governor Nwifuru, to immediately order for the unconditional release of the OYC President, Igboayaka.
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