
Gunmen have “abducted” the National President of the Ohanaeze Youth Council (OYC), Igboayaka Igboayaka, in Imo State, Nigeria’s South-east.
OYC is the Youth wing of the Igbo socio-cultural organisation, Ohanaeze Ndigbo Worldwide.
Mr Igboayaka was abducted at about 7 p.m. on Saturday in Owerri, the state capital.
The youth leader was said to have been double-crossed in Owerri by hoodlums while he was heading to an undisclosed location in the state.
The President of the Igbo National Council (INC), Chilos Godsent, confirmed the incident in a statement on Sunday.
Mr Godsent said the “gunmen dressed in black and numbering up to seven” arrived in a Sienna and a Lexus SUV and “forcefully arrested” the Ohanaeze president.
“On the foregoing, the INC wishes to call on the leadership of the Nigeria Police Force (in) Imo State Command to immediately swing into action to determine the identity of the gunmen that forcefully took the President of OYC, Comrade Igboayaka .O. Igboayaka, captive on the evening of Saturday 8th February 2025 in Owerri Metropolis and thus make same public,”
The leader of the Igbo group said the family of the abducted victim and other Igbo groups were worried that mobile phone lines have been unreachable since his abduction.
Meanwhile, there are speculations that those who “abducted” the Ohanaeze leader operated in vehicles which appeared to be those of security operatives.