The Ohanaeze Youth Council (OYC) has opposed plans for United States military action in Nigeria on religious grounds, urging former U.S. President Donald Trump to rather help facilitate a referendum for Nigerians.
OYC President, Comrade Igboayaka Igboayaka, said this in a statement on Wednesday, noting that a religiously motivated military intervention would not solve Nigeria’s long-standing security crisis, which has led to mass killings of Christians across the country.
He said the Igbo people were “grateful for America’s concern about the killing of Christians in Nigeria, especially in the East and Middle Belt,” but insisted that the focus should be “political, not religious.”
According to him, “The Igbo people have no need for U.S. military intervention on perceived religious grounds. What we need is an urgent referendum within a political framework.”
He described a referendum as “the crowning achievement of our era — the path that can lead Nigeria toward a peaceful resolution of its identity crisis.”
‘Christian Killings Concealed as Counterterrorism’
Igboayaka accused successive Nigerian administrations since 2015 of using the war against the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) as cover for targeted attacks against Christians in the Southeast.
He claimed that most security chiefs deployed to the region were Muslims and that their operations “concealed deliberate killings of Christians who form about 95% of IPOB’s supporters.”
Citing a report by the International Society for Civil Liberties and Rule of Law (Intersociety), the OYC leader alleged that between 2015 and 2024, “over 46,800 Christians were slaughtered collectively by troops, Fulani herdsmen, and bandits.”
He added that “in Northern Nigeria and other parts of the country from 2009 to 2023, 52,250 Christians were killed, while 18,000 were abducted without trace.”
He said, “From 2009 to May 2023, a total of 125,000 Christians have been killed in Nigeria.”
Trump Urged to Honour Slain Protesters
Igboayaka recalled an incident in January 2017 when Nigerian troops reportedly opened fire on peaceful IPOB supporters who were celebrating Donald Trump’s electoral victory, killing 20 and injuring over 70 people.
He appealed to Trump to “commemorate a mass burial for those innocent IPOB protesters who died celebrating his victory and to call for the release of their leader, Mazi Nnamdi Kanu.”
He also referenced National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) data indicating that insecurity led to the deaths of 614,373 Nigerians between May 2023 and April 2024 — a staggering toll that, he said, “demands urgent international attention.”
Referendum, Not Retaliation
The OYC urged Trump to use his influence to help Nigerian Christians push for a referendum within one year, describing it as the only way to reduce bloodshed and restore justice.
He said, “Christians’ killings in Nigeria are driven by economic greed, territorial conquest, ethnic cleansing, and political oligarchy. These forces use Fulani herdsmen, bandits, and jihadists as their tools.”
Igboayaka added, “We call on President Trump, as a Christian, to act now. Tomorrow may come with leaders who have no interest in ending these killings.”
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