Amnesty International has raised concerns over alleged human rights violations, unlawful killings and enforced disappearances in Nigeria’s South-East, calling on security agencies to account for people reportedly taken into custody.
The organisation made the call in Umuahia, Abia State, during the presentation of a report and campaign titled “A Decade of Impunity: Attacks and Unlawful Killings.”
Amnesty urged security agencies to either charge detainees to court or release them, stressing that prolonged detention without trial violates fundamental human rights.
An Amnesty researcher, Maurice Chukwu, said reports of missing persons had persisted across the South-East since 2021, leaving many families without information about the whereabouts of their relatives.
He also raised concerns over alleged abuses involving officers attached to the police tactical unit known as Tiger Base, including claims of extortion, intimidation and unlawful detention.
Amnesty campaigner Samson Abobarin said the organisation was submitting a petition signed by residents of the region to South-East governors. He urged the governors to pressure security agencies to provide information about people allegedly taken away during security operations.
Representing the Abia State Attorney-General, the Director of the Citizens’ Rights Department in the Ministry of Justice, Chinoyerem Patience Onyemenam, said the state government had zero tolerance for human rights abuses.
She acknowledged that although many police officers carried out their duties professionally, some operational procedures were problematic, adding that the issues raised at the event would be investigated.
The event also featured testimonies from relatives who alleged that their husbands, brothers and sons had been arrested by security personnel and either disappeared or were later found dead.
One petitioner, Godspower Chilem’s wife, said her husband was arrested at the premises of Life Gate Church in Aba on June 23, 2022, and that subsequent efforts to locate him at police detention facilities were unsuccessful.
Another petitioner, Carolina Chukwuma, alleged that her husband, Chukwuma Mwaokike, was arrested by the Department of State Services in Aba in April 2021. She appealed to the authorities to either release him or disclose his whereabouts.
Nicholas Egekwu also alleged that police officers invaded his home following an attack by unknown gunmen and took away several youths, including his two sons. He said he later discovered the bodies of his sons, Obinna and Onyebuchi, at a mortuary in Umuahia.
Another petitioner, Cecilia Anonorachi, said her husband, Christian Ifeanyi, was arrested in Aba in 2023 and had not been seen since. She appealed to Abia State Governor Alex Otti to intervene on behalf of affected families.
Human rights activist Samuel Agwu described the alleged crackdown on members and suspected sympathisers of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) as severe and called for an independent investigation into the allegations.
He also alleged that some youths were being held without trial at the Wawa Military Cantonment in Niger State, while others reportedly arrested during security operations in Obigbo, Rivers State, remained unaccounted for.
Amnesty International called for accountability, independent investigations and justice for families whose relatives were allegedly subjected to unlawful detention, disappearance or death.
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