…as Ohanaeze Ndigbo reacts to the arrest of Gentle De Yahoo, a notorious figure alleged to be part of the violent Auto Pilot separatist movement.
ENUGU, NIGERIA – The iNews Times | Following the reported arrest of Ifeanyi Eze Okorienta, also known as Gentle De Yahoo, the apex Igbo socio-cultural youth body, Ohanaeze Ndigbo Youth Council Worldwide, has issued a passionate appeal to armed groups operating as unknown gunmen in the South-East, urging them to lay down their weapons and end the cycle of bloodshed.
The National President of the Council, Mazi Okwu Nnabuike, made the call while reacting to the reported arrest of Gentle De Yahoo, a notorious figure alleged to be part of the violent Auto Pilot separatist movement.
Describing the arrest as a significant turning point, Okwu said the development presents an opportunity for those terrorising the region to reconsider their actions.
“The development is another opportunity to have a retrospection on the happenings in Igbo land,” he stated. “For the past three years or thereabouts, a season of mayhem has been unleashed on Ndigbo, not really by outsiders but by our own people.”
He decried the descent from genuine agitation to criminality, noting that the violence has long lost any ideological grounding.
“It started as an agitation for Biafra, but soon became an avenue to kidnap people for ransom, harvest organs, sack communities, collect levies, among other heinous crimes,” he lamented.
Okwu also pointed out that the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, and the IPOB leadership have consistently disowned the violent elements, who now operate independently under the so-called Auto Pilot faction.
“What has worried every discerning person is how you end up killing and maiming the same people you claim to be fighting for. What an irony,” he added.
The Ohanaeze youth leader called on those still hiding in the forests of Imo, Anambra, and other affected states to return home and join the call for peace, declaring that Igbo values are built on the sanctity of life–not violence.
“Ndigbo are not known for shedding blood. There is sanctity of life in Igbo land, but it has been so much desecrated,” he warned.
He further urged the liberation of communities still under siege, especially in Imo and Anambra States.
“Enough of blood spilling; this is a time to rebuild our land,” Okwu declared.
The arrest of Gentle De Yahoo, a key figure within the armed separatist insurgency, has renewed public attention on the deepening crisis in parts of the South-East, even as stakeholders increasingly call for a homegrown peace process to salvage the region from further decline.
