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“Our people are losing what rightly belongs to them,” Ekestor said.
‘’Each year, whenever a slot is being allocated to our people, we keep noticing that the number of applicants from our side is usually very poor.
“For example, Enugu State was given about 200 slots but the people who made it were never up to 100 due to poor application. This has also become a recurring decimal in other states in the South-east.
“Today’s statistics on the number of applicants show that Kaduna has about 3,000 applicants, while Enugu is still battling with about a hundred; and by the time we will be through with screening, you will not have enough to recruit from the state.
Meanwhile, the Indigenous People of Biafra had urged youths in the South-East to shun enlisting in the Nigerian Army, as it would only expose them to danger.
“Before you consider enlisting (into the Nigerian Army), ask yourself: what happened to those who joined a few years ago? Many have fallen victim to Boko Haram and other terrorist groups operating in the North,” the statement read in part.
“We have evidence of military barracks and police stations in the North being overtaken by terrorists.
“Meanwhile, the same government rewards the killers of these unsuspecting soldiers with cash, jobs, and scholarships under the pretense of them being ‘repentant terrorists’—eventually recruiting them into the same security forces.
“No Biafran youth should allow themselves to become a tool in the hands of the Federal Government, ECOWAS, or Western imperialists, to be used against the people of the Sahel.
“Any Igbo youth who enlists in the Nigerian Army is writing their name in sorrow. You will either be sacrificed to terrorists, killed by the state, or used as cannon fodder in proxy wars.”
“And if by some chance you return alive, it will be in disgrace—with no benefits, no honor. Ask those who have been part of these proxy wars what they gained. The answer is nothing.
“Just imagine what awaits you as an Igbo soldier. Your success will be seen as a threat to the Nigerian state. Your fight against insurgents will be misrepresented as a war against the North.
“Where are all the brave Igbo youths who joined the Army since 2020? Many have died. Others are languishing in military detention simply for asking for equality.
“We have warned our people before, and we’re doing so again—do not join the Nigerian Army. It is built on ethnic bias and aligned with those who support terrorism,” the statement concluded.
According to him: “There are a lot of falsehoods out there, stating that the Igbo are being killed because they are the first to be sent to the battlefield. These things are not true. After all, we that are here have risen high in the Army and we are telling you that they are lies.
‘’Today in the Nigerian Army, our brother is one of the top commanders in charge of equipment. His name is Chibueze Ogbuabor,” he said.
