A factional leader of Ohanaeze Ndigbo General Assembly, Basil Onyeacholam, has warned that the activities of herdsmen in the South East may compel Igbo to self-help to tackle insecurity in their territory.
Onyeacholam, therefore, urged President Muhammadu Buhari to address the insecurity in the area to dissuade the people from looking for an alternative means of securing themselves.
The warning came barely 24 hours after Onyeacholam was inaugurated as the President General of the apex Igbo socio-cultural organisation by the traditional ruler of Igbariam in the Anambra East Local Government Area of Anambra State, Igwe Nkelly Nzekwe, who claimed to be Chairman of the group’s Board of Trustees.
In Onyeacholam’s address in Awka, the Anambra State capital, on Monday, he maintained that he had come to restructure the socio-cultural organisation (Ohanaeze Ndigbo).
He said his mission included ensuring the election of a President of Igbo extraction for the country in 2023, adding that the Federal Government should address the agitations of Ndigbo to give them a sense of belonging.
Onyeacholam’s address partly read, “We want the Federal Government of Nigeria to equitably address the genuine agitations of our people. The President must sit up to the current security challenges in Igboland, to dissuade our people from inevitable self-help.
“I make bold to say that come 2023, an Igbo man will be elected as the President of Nigeria. The unity of Ndigbo is paramount and sacrosanct in actualising Igbo presidency in 2023.
“We need peace and security in Igboland and Nigeria at large; we need development, empowerment of Ndigbo in strategic government positions; we need equitable distribution of national resources and national development projects in Igboland.”