Apex Igbo socio-cultural organisation, Ohanaeze Ndigbo, has said that its President General, Sen John Azuta-Mbata, never issued any call to arms.

Ohanaeze Ndigbo, in a statement by its National Publicity Secretary, Dr Ezechi Chukwu, at the weekend, described the report as a deliberate effort to provoke hate and incite crisis.

It described as falsehood media reports that Azuta-Mbata urged Ndigbo and certain Nigerians to arm themselves against a looming war in the country.

The statement read: “Ohanaeze Ndigbo Worldwide has noted with grave concern a false, malicious and incendiary story currently being circulated on social media platforms, falsely attributed to the President General of Ohanaeze Ndigbo Worldwide and framed under a misleading ‘BREAKING’ headline.

“The fake story fraudulently claims that the Ohanaeze President General issued an ‘urgent call to arms,’ allegedly warning that ‘every Igbo man from age 18 up must get a gun,’ and urging people to ‘acquire weapons, foreign or locally made’ because ‘a war is coming in days.

“Let it be stated clearly, categorically and without any equivocation that Senator Azuta-Mbata, President General of Ohanaeze Ndigbo Worldwide, never made such infernal statements and never issued any satanic call to arms and never authorised any such demonic publication. This lethal narrative is a complete devilish fabrication and did not emanate from Ohanaeze Ndigbo Worldwide or any of its recognised communication channels.

“This concocted story is reckless, dangerous and criminal, deliberately designed to incite fear, provoke violence and portray Ndigbo as promoters of lawlessness.”

The statement added that Azuta-Mbata is a respected elder statesman, an esteemed and amiable leader of the Igbo nation, and a committed nationalist, whose engagement for the welfare of Ndigbo has always been anchored in peaceful advocacy, constitutionalism, justice and fairness.

“He cannot, by character, record or conviction, be associated with calls for violence, illegal arms acquisition or the breakdown of law and order,” it said

It said that Ohanaeze Ndigbo Worldwide remains a responsible socio-cultural organisation dedicated to dialogue, unity and peaceful coexistence within Nigeria.

“Neither the President General nor Ohanaeze can be a party to this unimaginable mischief, violent propaganda and deliberate falsehood to cause venomous destruction of the polity,” it said.

It urged relevant security agencies to urgently trace, flush out, and prosecute the author or authors of the toxic social media fabrication, stressing that their actions pose a grave threat to public peace, national security, and inter-ethnic harmony.

Ohanaeze Ndigbo urged members of the public to completely disregard the fake story.

“It is a product from the pit of hell, crafted to deceive the unsuspecting and malign the leadership and corporate integrity of Ohanaeze Ndigbo Worldwide. The purveyors of this lie are enemies of Ndigbo and enemies of Nigeria,” the statement added. (The Guardian)