IPOB Lawyer Ejiofor demands release of Igbo youths held at Wawa Barracks

By Alumona Ukwueze

ENUGU— Renowned Nigerian human rights lawyer and lead counsel to the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Sir Ifeanyi Ejiofor, has called on the Federal Government of Nigeria and the Attorney-General of the Federation to urgently intervene and order the immediate release of hundreds of Igbo youths being unlawfully detained at the Wawa Barracks.

Ejiofor made the call in a statement issued on Tuesday titled “Midweek Musing: When Justice Looks North and Blinks South — The Irony of Selective Prosecution and the Silent Suffering of a People.” 

He lamented that the detained youths have spent an unreasonably long time in custody without trial,describing their continued detention as a grave violation of their constitutional rights.

According to the human rights lawyer, there appears to be a disturbing disparity in the application of justice between Nigeria’s regions, particularly between the South-East and the North.

He alleged that individuals from the North who were implicated in acts of banditry and terrorism during the tenure of former Attorney-General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami, SAN, were never prosecuted, while Igbo youths are routinely arrested, blindfolded, and consigned to prolonged detention.

Ejiofor stated that Nigeria has tested the patience of the Igbo people for far too long and that the continued detention of these youths lacks any legal or moral justification.

He further referenced recent revelations from the Department of State Services (DSS) that emerged during the ongoing prosecution of the former Attorney-General, noting that these disclosures have shocked many Nigerians. According to him, during Malami’s tenure, the former Attorney-General allegedly failed, refused, or neglected to prosecute individuals predominantly of northern extraction whose names had been publicly listed years earlier by security agencies as alleged financiers of terrorism.

“These were not mere rumours or street gossip,” “They were conclusions reportedly reached through extensive intelligence investigations.” Ejiofor stated.

He noted that the irony of the situation is impossible to ignore.

He explained that those individuals were accused of funding some of the most violent non-state actors destabilising Nigeria, including Boko Haram, ISWAP, armed bandit groups, and allied jihadist networks.

Despite claims that their activities were supported by credible and verifiable intelligence, Ejiofor said prosecutions were mysteriously abandoned, investigative files were closed, and some of the suspects were quietly cleared.

“One is compelled to ask,” he queried, “was terrorism suddenly eradicated, or was it simply forgiven?”

A Different Standard in the South-East

Ejiofor contrasted this situation with developments in the South-East, where, he said, young people are routinely arrested and detained for extended periods based on mere suspicion, association, or profiling. While acknowledging the importance of allowing judicial processes to run their full course and avoiding premature conclusions, he maintained that the nature and content of the charges disclosed so far raise deeply troubling questions about fairness, equity, and the impartial application of justice in Nigeria.

He urged the Federal Government to act decisively, restore public confidence in the justice system, and end what he described as the selective prosecution and systemic injustice suffered by the Igbo people—beginning with the immediate release of all unlawfully detained youths at the Wawa Barracks.

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