THE National Youth Council of Nigeria (NYCN) has expressed dismay over the alleged killing of two youths during a campaign rally at Ejemekwuru community in Oguta Local Government Area (LGA).

Mr Izunna Agwuncha, South East Organising Secretary of the council, made this known in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), in Owerri, on Monday.

Agwuncha, who frowned at the development which occurred on Saturday, also seized the opportunity to state that the NYCN condemned all forms of violence in the buildup to the 2019 elections.

He called on all stakeholders in the electioneering process, especially monitoring teams and international observers to resist manipulative measures by politicians who were desperate for power.

Agwuncha, who is also the Imo chairman, Organisation for Drug Abuse and Violence Free Society, described youths as the most vulnerable group in the society.

He opined that Nigerian youths had suffered exclusion from the nation’s politics.

He further called on youths to steer clear of all forms of electoral malpractice, as according to him, ‘the outcome of the 2019 elections will shape the future of today’s youths’.

In his words, “we condemn all forms of electoral violence in the forthcoming elections. We call on election observers to say no to any effort to manipulate this year’s elections.

“As vulnerable as the youths are, they have suffered from the political stage and this anomaly has to be corrected.

“We, therefore, implore the youths to eschew all manner of electoral malpractice including thuggery, snatching of ballot boxes and vote buying.

“Let us see the 2019 elections as a litmus test, the result of which is capable of shaping our collective destinies as tomorrow’s leaders of this great country,” he said. (NAN)

– Feb. 11, 2019 @ 14:15 GMT |