South-East stakeholders, including traditional rulers, human rights activists, lawyers and representatives of civil society and non-governmental organisations, were moved to tears on Wednesday as Amnesty International and alleged victims recounted cases of torture, rape and prolonged detention without trial at the Anti-Kidnapping Unit, popularly known as Tiger Base, of the Nigeria Police Force in Owerri, Imo State.
The unit, which operates under the Imo State Police Command, was alleged to have acted with impunity and outside established rules of engagement.
At the public presentation of an investigative report on the unit in Enugu, stakeholders demanded a thorough probe and prosecution of any officers found culpable.
The report, titled “Tiger Base of Atrocities: Human Rights Violations by Nigeria Police Anti-Kidnapping Unit in Owerri”, covered investigations conducted between May 2025 and February 2026. It was presented by Amnesty International’s Country Director, Isa Sanusi.
According to the report, the unit was responsible for prolonged arbitrary detention, extortion, excessive bail demands, enforced disappearances and the removal of children from their mothers without documentation.
“Tiger Base has become synonymous with police operating outside the law and abusing their power to enrich themselves through extortion. Those arrested and detained by this unit are subjected to torture and ill-treatment; they never come out intact. Many are traumatised forever. Despite the horrific violations they have suffered, there has been no accountability to date,” the report stated.
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It alleged that many detainees were neither allowed to make formal statements nor brought before a court, enabling indefinite detention. Some were reportedly held for weeks or months without charge, while others were said to have been killed.
Amnesty said detainees were subjected to hanging, beatings, waterboarding, prolonged stress positions and deliberate starvation.
The organisation said it interviewed 23 people, including 14 women who alleged prolonged detention, torture and extortion, as well as two lawyers and two human rights defenders.
Sanusi said Amnesty wrote to the police on December 1 to share its findings and request a response. On February 6, the police acknowledged the allegations and stated that the Inspector General of Police had ordered a comprehensive audit of the unit, with the outcome to be communicated upon completion.
Some survivors narrated their experiences at the event. One said he saw officers take a detainee from a cell, after which gunshots were heard. The detainee was later returned with bullet wounds.
“The other guy took him out; we heard gunshots. We thought they had killed him, but after some hours he came back with bullet wounds. Nobody cared,” he said.
Guardian
