The Christian Association of Igbo Ministers, CAIM, has expressed worries that youths of Igbo extraction are jettisoning their Christian faith and returning to idol worship, saying that the trend does not portend well for the Christian faith and the Igbo nation.
The international president of the group, Solomon Chukwuemeka Okorie, said this on Friday in Umuahia while briefing the press on the World Igbo Prayer Summit, which is holding from August 14 to 16 at the International Conference Centre, Umuahia.
He noted that the future of the Christian faith in Igboland is challenged if the youths are not shown the way of God. According to him, the 95 per cent Christian population recorded in the recent past among the Igbo may plummet if nothing is done.
He lamented that despite the individual strength of the Igbos, they are not collectively united when compared with their counterparts from the South West and the North.
The group, which called for unity among all Igbos in the South East and those in Benue, Delta, Edo, and Rivers, also urged clergymen of Igbo extraction to form a united front in praying for the Igbos to get out of their present condition in the country.
The group expressed worries about the deaths of prominent Igbo personalities, including Emmanuel Iwuanyanwu, Ifeanyi Ubah, and Onyeka Onwenu, among others. It advised the Igbo to go into prayer to avert the tragic loss of their leaders.
Okorie said that the summit would be used to seek the face of God for the survival of the Igbos through prayers and also to seek an end to the present situation of insecurity in the South East.
“The killings and other forms of insecurity in the South East are not what we were known for and we are going to use the World Igbo Prayer Summit to pray for the return of peace and unity,” he said.