In a statement issued by its National President, Comrade Igboayaka O. Igboayaka, the youth wing of the apex Igbo socio-cultural group said it was appalled by tributes paid to the late president on Tuesday, July 15, 2025, while victims of his administration’s brutality remain unacknowledged.

The Ohanaeze Youth Council (OYC) has criticised the wave of national condolences following the death of former President Muhammadu Buhari, describing his tenure as marked by "oppression, tyranny, and ethnic cleansing."

In a statement issued by its National President, Comrade Igboayaka O. Igboayaka, the youth wing of the apex Igbo socio-cultural group said it was appalled by tributes paid to the late president on Tuesday, July 15, 2025, while victims of his administration’s brutality remain unacknowledged.

“No cry is more expensive than the cry of others, and no mourning more sorrowful than others' mourning,” Igboayaka said, referencing the many lives lost during Buhari’s presidency.

He cited the killing of unarmed pro-Biafran agitators in locations such as Head Bridge Onitsha, Aba, Port Harcourt, and Afaraukwu Umuahia during military operations like “Python Dance,” as well as the deaths of Shiite Muslims and EndSARS protesters, particularly the widely condemned shooting at Lekki Tollgate in Lagos.

According to the OYC, the Federal Government's failure to declare national mourning for these incidents, while observing public gestures of sympathy upon Buhari’s death, reveals deep-seated hypocrisy and selective empathy.

"How can one justify showing compassion to someone devoid of empathy?" Igboayaka questioned.

“Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy, but those who eulogise a villain while ignoring innocent bloodshed will face divine judgment.”

He said that Buhari’s leadership was marred by widespread human rights violations, including the reported deaths of over 68,000 Nigerians due to what he described as “intentional carelessness.”

He accused the late President of presiding over economic mismanagement and tribalistic governance.

“In Benue and Plateau, parents beyond childbearing age were rendered childless. Families shattered. Lives are broken. There was no day of mourning for them,” Igboayaka stated.

“Yet today, some glorify a man who brought hunger, famine, and mass unemployment.”

Igboayaka also noted financial malfeasance under Buhari’s administration, pointing to the reported N825 billion and $2.5 billion allegedly stolen under the guise of refinery rehabilitation through the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL).

He described Buhari’s tenure as one of “executive recklessness, legislative impunity, and judicial rascality,” referencing the continued detention of the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Nnamdi Kanu, as a reflection of judicial bias and political persecution.

"Watching Justice Binta Nyako preside over Nnamdi Kanu’s trial is like watching Buhari himself in court. The injustice lives on, even in death," Igboayaka said.

He warned, “Those who must destroy others in order to succeed must have destruction awaiting them in the corridors of their lives.”

The OYC reiterated its demand for justice for victims of extra-judicial killings and marginalisation, calling for national introspection and accountability over what it terms the “political evil of 2015 to 2023.”