Aloy Ejimakor, Special Counsel to the detained leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Nnamdi Kanu, has stated that many young people from the South-East are unwilling to join the Nigerian Army because they do not trust the country’s security institutions.
Ejimakor made the remarks in a post shared on X, where he argued that the low level of military enlistment among Igbo youths should not be interpreted as a lack of courage or patriotism.
According to him, the reluctance stems from longstanding grievances and perceptions of unfair treatment within the nation’s security architecture.
The lawyer claimed that many youths in the region believe the armed forces have not treated the South-East fairly over the years.
He said concerns about representation, leadership balance and past military actions against communities in the region have contributed to the growing distrust.
He wrote: “The reluctance of Igbo youths to enlist in the Nigerian armed forces is not a deficit of valor, but a calculated refusal to serve an institution they deeply mistrust. Historically and presently, Ndigbo face systematic marginalization within an ethnically unbalanced leadership structure in Nigeria’s security services.
“More critically, the armed forces are repeatedly weaponized against Ndigbo in times of crisis. The trauma of the 1967 army massacres of Ndigbo in the North remain an unhealed wound, constantly reopened by modern atrocities targeting youths suspected of IPOB ties, such as the state-sanctioned violence at Nkpor, the Aba prayer ground, Obigbo, the Trump victory rally in Port Harcourt, and many others.
“Furthermore, these youths are deeply appalled by the integration of “repentant” Boko Haram terrorists into the military. To ask them to bleed under a biased command, alongside former terrorists, is a compromise of dignity they refuse to make.
“So, their reluctance to enlist is not cowardice. Instead, it is a quiet, powerful protest against an institution that has often betrayed Ndigbo.”