A diaspora-based Igbo intellectual group, the Ikenga Think-Tank in North America, has issued a stern rebuke to South-East governors and political leaders, accusing them of betraying their people through what it described as “silent complicity” in the alleged persecution and killings of Igbo youth across Nigeria. In a demand letter addressed to governors, senators, and security agencies operating in the region, the group lamented that leaders had abandoned their constitutional responsibility of safeguarding lives and properties, allowing widespread violence and injustice against their own people to persist unchecked.

Signed by Dr. Dankwu Agbambu, the letter expressed deep outrage, insisting that South-East leaders had turned a blind eye while Igbo youth were “hunted down, incarcerated, raped, and slaughtered.” The group declared that such indifference amounted to a betrayal of the Igbo nation and a shameful blot on history. According to the letter, the continuous silence of political leaders had emboldened perpetrators of violence and suggested complicity, rather than resistance, to what it described as the systematic extermination of Igbo youth.

The group accused the leaders of prioritizing the temporary benefits and privileges of political office over the survival and dignity of their people. It warned that history would deliver a merciless judgment against them, noting that the diaspora community was carefully recording every action and inaction for future accountability. The Think-Tank also criticized the continued incarceration of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) leader, Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, describing him as the prophetic voice of an oppressed people. By failing to demand his release and ignoring the violent actions of security forces and alleged armed groups, the leaders, it argued, had brought disgrace to Igbo heritage and values.

The demand letter outlined four key actions for South-East leaders. These included a united condemnation of the killings and persecution of Igbo youth, an immediate public call for the release of Nnamdi Kanu and other detained agitators, tangible steps to secure the South-East from both internal betrayal and external attacks, and the removal of military checkpoints that the group claimed symbolized oppression. Concluding its message, the diaspora body challenged the leaders to either stand boldly with their people or risk being remembered as accomplices to their destruction. It emphasized that not only the diaspora but the global community was watching closely, and that posterity would deliver a harsh verdict against betrayal and silence.