Amnesty raises alarm over missing persons, police abuse in S’East, demands Justice

By Steve Oko

UMUAHIA – Amnesty International has raised the alarm over alleged widespread human rights violations, unlawful killings and enforced disappearances in the South-East, accusing security agencies of leaving families in agony by failing to account for persons allegedly taken into custody.

The organisation called on security agencies to either charge persons in their custody to court or release them, insisting that prolonged detention without trial violates fundamental human rights.

Amnesty made the demand in Umuahia, Abia State, during a one-day report presentation and campaign launch titled “A Decade of Impunity: Attacks and Unlawful Killings.”

The organisation said reports of missing persons had persisted in the region since 2021, with many families still unable to establish the whereabouts of their loved ones.

Speaking at the event, an Amnesty researcher, Mr Maurice Chukwu, said many youths from the South-East were allegedly languishing in police detention facilities across the country without trial.

Chukwu said families had continued to recount “chilling” stories of relatives who disappeared after being arrested by security operatives and had remained unaccounted for years.

He also expressed concern over alleged activities of officers attached to the police tactical unit known as Tiger Base, including alleged extortion, intimidation and unlawful detention of youths in the region.

“Amnesty is asking: where is accountability and justice for all Nigerian youths?” he queried.

Also speaking, Amnesty International campaigner, Samson Abobarin, said the whereabouts of many youths remained unknown.

He disclosed that the organisation was submitting a petition signed by concerned residents of the South-East to governors in the region, urging them to mount pressure on security agencies and demand information on the whereabouts of persons allegedly taken away by security operatives.

Representing the Attorney-General of Abia State, the Director, Citizens’ Rights Department, Ministry of Justice, Mrs Chinoyerem Patience Onyemenam, said the state government had zero tolerance for human rights abuses and injustice.

Onyemenam acknowledged that while many police officers were committed to their duties, “some operational mechanisms are wrong,” assuring that the issues raised at the event would be investigated.

She said the Ministry of Justice remained proactive in handling citizens’ rights cases.

The representative of the Commissioner for Tertiary Education, Mrs Nkechi Okoji, also commended Amnesty International for its campaign, recounting the alleged arrest and extortion of a medical student from Aba by police officers.

According to her, the student was allegedly arrested by a team of police officers, taken to a location far from where he was picked up and extorted.

The Chairman of the Abia State chapter of the Albinism Association of Nigeria, Nwosu Enyinnaya, described Amnesty’s campaign as timely, calling for justice for families whose relatives allegedly disappeared after encounters with security agencies.

The event featured emotional testimonies from relatives who alleged that their husbands, brothers and sons were arrested by security operatives and had either disappeared or been found dead.

Among those who gave testimonies were Miriam Nwambiram, Esther Chilem, Carolina Chukwuma, Chiwendu Chidiebere, Cecilia Nmaochie and Nicholas Egekwu.

Chilem said her husband, Godspower Chilem, was arrested at the premises of Life Gate Church, Aba, on June 23, 2022.

She said she was later informed that he had been taken to the RRS, but repeated efforts to locate him at police detention facilities yielded no result.

Similarly, Mrs Carolina Chukwuma alleged that her husband, Chukwuma Mwaokike, was arrested by the Department of State Services on April 26, 2021, at St Paul Junction, Aba.

She said she was later informed that he had been moved to the CPS in Aba and appealed to the government to intervene and secure his release or establish his whereabouts.

Egekwu gave a particularly harrowing account, alleging that following an attack by unknown gunmen, police officers attached to the State CID, Umuahia, invaded his home 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.

“It remains the saddest day of my life. The incident devastated my family and we have not recovered from it,” he said.

Another petitioner, Cecilia Anonorachi, said her husband, Christian Ifeanyi, was arrested in Aba in 2023 and had not been seen since.

Breaking down in tears, she appealed to Governor Alex Otti to intervene and help families affected by alleged disappearances.

A human rights activist trained by Amnesty International, Samuel Agwu, described the alleged crackdown on members and suspected sympathisers of the Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, as “mind-blowing and hellish.”

Agwu claimed that he knew up to 1,000 persons with disturbing accounts of relatives who disappeared, but said many families were afraid to speak publicly because of fear of reprisals.

He further alleged that many youths were being held without trial at the Wawa Military Cantonment in Niger State, while several others allegedly arrested during security operations in Obigbo, Rivers State, remained unaccounted for.

He called for an independent investigation into the allegations and justice for affected families.

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