By CHARLES IWUOHA

The Coalition of Concerned Igbo Religious Leaders (Christian, Traditional and Interfaith) has declared that the forces who twisted the Aburi Accord leading to the Biafra war are still working against Igbo interests.

The coalition, which comprises bishops, pastors, priests, and custodians of Igbo traditional spirituality across Alaigbo, spoke in a statement released by Rev Tony Uzor Anthony on Wednesday in Umuahia.

The religious leaders said they decided to speak out not because of partisan politics but from the moral and spiritual duty to defend truth, protect the people, and confront the recurring betrayal that has long plagued the Igbo nation.

“The same forces that twisted the Aburi Accord in 1967 are at work again today. The method is identical: take an agreement or a defensive initiative born of necessity, distort it through propaganda, and blame the victim for the ensuing crisis. In 1967, the Aburi Accord in Ghana produced a clear understanding that Nigeria must be restructured on a confederal basis to guarantee regional autonomy and protect the Eastern Region from marginalisation. Yet Britain and the Nigerian military government, through deliberate distortion and bad faith, reframed that consensus as “Ojukwu’s ultimatum for war.” The result was a brutal conflict that cost millions of Igbo lives. Today, history repeats itself with chilling precision,” the statement said.

The religious leaders noted that the Eastern Security Network (ESN) was birthed by necessity after Igbo governors, led by Dave Umahi and backed by then-Army Chief Tukur Buratai, unilaterally proscribed IPOB and invited the Nigerian military into our land under the guise of Operation Python Dance II.

“What specific criminal incident by Mazi Nnamdi Kanu or IPOB triggered that proscription? None has ever been credibly demonstrated. Kanu had just been released from Kuje Prison in April 2017 by lawful court order. He toured every state in Igboland. Millions of our people — men, women, and youths — trooped out peacefully to welcome him. That massive, lawful expression of love and solidarity was what certain Igbo governors and their federal handlers labelled “terrorism.”

“ESN emerged later to shield our communities from the Fulani banditry and herdsmen atrocities that intensified after those military operations. For years, ESN has stood as a buffer, preventing the scale of carnage witnessed in other parts of Nigeria. Yet today, the same voices that invited the army and enabled the insecurity now pour resources — state and federal — into smearing ESN and Mazi Nnamdi Kanu as the architects of the very insecurity they helped create. Paid agents, compromised social-media noise-makers, and even some previously appointed by Kanu himself now work openly with anti-Biafra forces to sustain this lie. Their goal is transparent: keep Mazi Nnamdi Kanu in illegal detention without any proven crime, thereby neutralising the one figure whose freedom threatens the status quo,” the statement added.

The religious leaders said they are asking the simple questions Igbos have stopped asking because fear and propaganda have dulled consciences.

It asked, "Under what subsisting Nigerian law did Justice James Omotosho deliver the 20 November 2025 conviction? The proscription itself, the trial, and the judgment rest on statutes many of which have been repealed or whose application has been fatally challenged on jurisdictional and fair-hearing grounds. Till date, neither the judge nor his enablers have answered this elementary question.

“Why did Igbo governors, envious of Kanu’s unmatched popularity among the masses, rush to proscribe IPOB and open the gates for military invasion instead of engaging the legitimate grievances he raised?

“Why is sit-at-home — a non-violent protest tactic — now blamed for insecurity while the governors who invited the army and the federal forces that turned our land into a theatre of operations are shielded from scrutiny?”

They noted that the problem with Igbos is not their industriousness, republican spirit, or our demand for justice. According to them, the problem is the persistent presence of slaves — men and women who, for personal gain, political appointment, or sheer envy, have mortgaged the collective destiny of Ndigbo to external oppressors.

The religious leaders noted that these internal saboteurs twist every narrative, celebrate every setback to the Biafra cause, and attack the very structures (like ESN) that have shielded the women, children, and farmlands from the banditry that has ravaged other regions.

“Mazi Nnamdi Kanu has refused to break. He has risen above the wickedness, the treachery, and the paid propaganda. He remains an uncommon Igboman — a prisoner of conscience whose only “crime” is refusing to accept the permanent subjugation of his people. Like the biblical Paul writing epistles from prison, or Joseph sold into slavery by his own brothers, Kanu’s chains have only amplified his voice and clarified his mission.

“We, Igbo religious leaders, therefore call on every son and daughter of Alaigbo: Reject the lies. Demand that those who claim ESN is the problem produce evidence of who created the conditions for insecurity in the first place.

“Insist on the unconditional release of Mazi Nnamdi Kanu as the indispensable first step toward genuine peace and restructuring.

“Refuse to be divided by envy, fear, or the promise of crumbs from the master’s table.

“Return to the spirit of Aburi — not the twisted version, but the original demand for a restructured federation or, where that is denied, the legitimate exercise of self-determination,” the religious leaders added.

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