Aloy Ejimakor, lawyer to the detained leader of the proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra, Nnamdi Kanu, has attributed the low participation of South-East youths in Nigerian Army recruitment exercises to a deep lack of confidence in the military rather than unwillingness to serve.
Ejimakor made the remarks in a post on X on Thursday while responding to comments credited to the Chief of Army Staff, Lieutenant General Waidi Shaibu, who expressed concern over the low number of recruits from the South-East during a passing-out parade at the Nigerian Army Recruits Training Depot in Amasiri-Edda, Ebonyi State.
According to him, many young people from the region feel alienated by what they see as an uneven representation of ethnic groups within the country’s security leadership. He also argued that repeated military operations in the South-East have further eroded public trust.
“The reluctance of Igbo youths to enlist in the Nigerian armed forces is not a deficit of valour, but a calculated refusal to serve an institution they deeply mistrust.
“Historically and presently, Ndigbo face systematic marginalisation within an ethnically unbalanced leadership structure in Nigeria’s security services. More critically, the armed forces are repeatedly weaponised against Ndigbo in times of crisis,” he said.
Ejimakor cited the killings of Igbos in Northern Nigeria in 1967 and claimed that later incidents involving people suspected of having IPOB links, including those in Nkpor, Aba prayer ground, Obigbo and Port Harcourt, have continued to reinforce those fears.
He further argued that the integration of former Boko Haram fighters who passed through the military’s deradicalisation programme has also discouraged many South-East youths from considering military service.
Describing the trend as a silent protest, he insisted that many young people in the region are rejecting enlistment because of concerns over fairness and treatment within the armed forces.
“To ask them to bleed under a biased command, alongside former terrorists, is a compromise of dignity they refuse to make,” he stated.
The comments followed renewed appeals by the Army for greater participation from the South-East in its recruitment drives. Military authorities have repeatedly noted that states in the region record some of the lowest application numbers, leading to unused recruitment slots being reassigned to other parts of the country.
The Army has maintained that its recruitment process is transparent, merit-based and not influenced by ethnic considerations.
