BAN acting leader expelled as crisis deepens

By Katherine Diakpomere

Brothers Across Nigeria (BAN), aka Buccaneers Confraternity, has announced the expulsion of its acting President, Dr. Anthony Uchechi and others, including Mark Nwahiri and Mr Bassey Ekanem, over what the organisation described as “gross misconduct, financial impropriety, abuse of office, betrayal of fraternal values, tribalism, divisiveness and systematic looting and laundering of the organisation’s resources.”

The decision was announced after an emergency meeting of the Board of Trustees and elders of the organisation held over the weekend.

According to a statement issued after the meeting, the Chairman of the Board of Trustees, Mr. Yemi Ayofe, said the organisation had exhausted all internal mechanisms aimed at resolving the crisis before taking the drastic action.

“We have tried everything possible to resolve this matter internally as brothers, but all efforts failed. In fact, we are acting late by taking this action now because the damage done to this organisation under Nwahiri’s illegal leadership had been enormous, while we were taking our time to explore possible internal resolution of the issues,” Ayofe stated.

He added that alongside Nwahiri, another senior member, Mr. Ekenem, was also expelled for alleged collaboration in financial irregularities, aiding abuse of office and participating in activities considered detrimental to the unity of the confraternity.

According to him, more names are currently under investigation.

“A disciplinary committee is presently compiling additional names of collaborators, enablers and beneficiaries of these illegal activities. More expulsions will follow after due review,” he stated.

On the internal crisis, he said: “The once influential confraternity has reportedly been engulfed in internal turmoil since September 2024, when it was alleged by some prominent members that Nwahiri was dubiously allowed to act as president without an election as mandated by the constitution of the organisation. They accused the interim leadership headed by Nwahiri of running the organisation like a private enterprise, while allegedly enriching himself and cronies at the expense of members,” the statement noted.

Senior members of the group claimed that the crisis intensified after repeated demands for financial transparency and compliance with the fiscal and other regulations of the organisation were ignored.

However, sources within the organisation alleged that annual dues, project funds, donations from chapters and proceeds from organisational assets disappeared without proper records or accountability.

“Some members also accused the interim leadership of disrespecting long-standing elders, intimidating and vilifying dissenting voices, suspending critics arbitrarily and weaponising their positions against perceived opponents,” he stated.

The statement said that while also addressing journalists, Femi Osibanjo, a former president of the organisation and current legal adviser to BAN, painted a grim picture of the state of the confraternity, saying, “We have never had it this bad before. This fellow has destroyed structures that took decades to build. He has broken friendships, divided chapters across Nigeria and abroad and placed deep cracks in the fraternal bonds that united us. The scope and quantum of the thefts, corruption and painful destruction of our ethos is monumental. He has introduced tribalism into our midst; something which was anathema. Our objectives have always been to mould fine gentlemen to imbibe corruption-free, ethnocentrically neutral, transparent, accountable leadership and share love among each other and host communities, such that we create models for society at large to emulate. How do we do these if we tolerate the kind of mis-governance deployed by him and his cohorts?” Osibanjo said.