{"id":194033,"date":"2026-02-08T17:55:40","date_gmt":"2026-02-08T16:55:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/uncategorized\/ohanaeze-president-did-not-call-for-gun-ownership"},"modified":"2026-02-08T19:33:42","modified_gmt":"2026-02-08T18:33:42","slug":"ohanaeze-president-did-not-call-for-gun-ownership","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/ohanaeze-president-did-not-call-for-gun-ownership","title":{"rendered":"Ohanaeze President Did Not Call for Gun Ownership"},"content":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Nigeria. <\/strong><\/span>Igbo Youth Leaders and Stakeholders Assembly has dismissed reports that the President General of Ohanaeze Ndigbo Worldwide, John Mbata, called on Igbo youths from the age of 18 to arm themselves against suspected terrorists in the South-East.<\/p>\n

In a statement, the group\u2019s leader, Mazi Chukwuma Okpalaezeukwu, described the reports as false and misleading, stating that there was no truth whatsoever in the claims.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe categorically state that our leader and President General of Ohanaeze Ndigbo Worldwide did not and can never make such a call for arms. This malicious propaganda and criminal blackmail, for whatever purpose or intention, is dead on arrival,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Okpalaezeukwu described Mbata as a respected statesman and patriot with impeccable character and an outstanding record of service, insisting that the allegation was deliberately fabricated to mislead the public.<\/p>\n

He condemned what he described as mischievous and false insinuations and urged members of the public to disregard the report, while calling on citizens to always verify sensitive information before sharing it, so as not to aid the spread of fake news.<\/p>\n

The group equally urged the Office of the National Security Adviser, ONSA, the Inspector-General of Police, the Department of State Services, DSS, and other relevant authorities to investigate the source of the claim, with a view to identifying, arresting and prosecuting those behind what it described as an \u201cexpensive fake news\u201d capable of undermining national peace and security.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe South-East remains a region with unique challenges, including insecurity, perceived marginalisation, neglect, and the absence of major capital projects. The circulation of such false statements only worsens an already delicate situation,\u201d the statement read in part.<\/p>\n

For More News And Analysis About Nigeria<\/span> Follow Africa-Press<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Nigeria. Igbo Youth Leaders and Stakeholders Assembly has dismissed reports that the President General of Ohanaeze Ndigbo Worldwide, John Mbata, called on Igbo youths from the age of 18 to arm themselves against suspected terrorists in the South-East. In a statement, the group\u2019s leader, Mazi Chukwuma Okpalaezeukwu, described the reports as false and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":194032,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[24,14],"tags":[254],"class_list":["post-194033","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-policy","tag-nigeria"],"yoast_head":"\nOhanaeze President Did Not Call for Gun Ownership - Nigeria<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Igbo Youth Leaders and Stakeholders Assembly has dismissed reports that the President General of Ohanaeze Ndigbo Worldwi ...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/ohanaeze-president-did-not-call-for-gun-ownership\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Ohanaeze President Did Not Call for Gun Ownership\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Igbo Youth Leaders and Stakeholders Assembly has dismissed reports that the President General of Ohanaeze Ndigbo Worldwi ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/ohanaeze-president-did-not-call-for-gun-ownership\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Nigeria\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-02-08T16:55:40+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-02-08T18:33:42+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/sites\/3\/2026\/02\/sm_1770575426.261655.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1280\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"698\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/ohanaeze-president-did-not-call-for-gun-ownership#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/ohanaeze-president-did-not-call-for-gun-ownership\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"headline\":\"Ohanaeze President Did Not Call for Gun Ownership\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-02-08T16:55:40+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-02-08T18:33:42+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/ohanaeze-president-did-not-call-for-gun-ownership\"},\"wordCount\":290,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/ohanaeze-president-did-not-call-for-gun-ownership#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/sites\/3\/2026\/02\/sm_1770575426.261655.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Nigeria\"],\"articleSection\":[\"all news\",\"Policy\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/ohanaeze-president-did-not-call-for-gun-ownership#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/ohanaeze-president-did-not-call-for-gun-ownership\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/ohanaeze-president-did-not-call-for-gun-ownership\",\"name\":\"Ohanaeze President Did Not Call for Gun Ownership - 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