Renowned human rights lawyer, Chidi Odinkalu, has accused politicians of fueling insecurity in Nigeria’s Southeast, insisting that they are the main financiers of cult activities in the region.

Odinkalu made the assertion on Thursday during an interview on Channels Television’s Politics Today, monitored by The Nation.

He challenged claims that the rising insecurity in the Southeast is solely the result of activities by the now-proscribed Indigenous Peoples of Biafra (IPOB). While acknowledging that separatist agitations contribute to unrest, Odinkalu argued that attributing every security challenge to IPOB is misleading.

“Let me be clear: the single biggest security threat confronting the Southeast is not IPOB. It is one word – cults, financed by politicians,” Odinkalu said. “The problem of cults in the region is severe, and it is far worse than most people realise.”

The lawyer’s remarks come amid escalating violence in some Southeastern states, which security agencies and analysts have largely linked to IPOB operations. Odinkalu’s intervention shifts the focus to the underlying role of political actors in sustaining criminal networks that exacerbate insecurity.