 |
| Notorious police personnel from Tiger Base on patrol in Imo State, Nigeria. |
— OWERRI, Nigeria
Tiger Base, the anti-kidnapping unit of the Imo State Police Command in Owerri, Nigeria, was established to combat kidnapping, armed robbery, and violent crime. However, it has become a site of systemic human rights abuses, reminiscent of the atrocities of the SARS era.
Recent outrage has been sparked by reports and testimonies of torture, extortion, extrajudicial killings, and even organ trafficking. Activists and families are demanding its immediate closure.
Among the documented cases is that of Japheth Njoku, a 32-year-old security guard tortured to death in May 2025 on a petty theft charge. His body was secretly taken to the morgue after the police lied to his family.
Businessman Levi Opara died in custody in 2025 after being arrested in a family dispute. He was reportedly stabbed during an interrogation. His family paid millions to recover his embalmed body.
Johnbosco Onuocha was abducted from his store in May 2025. Tiger Base changed its story, shifting from denial to allegations of a shooting and escape, refusing to return his body, and using fabricated evidence to portray him as member of a Biafran independence group, the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB).
Pastor Dominic Ekechukwu and his cousin, detained since May 2021, remain missing, illustrating the phenomenon of enforced disappearances. Others have suffered a similar fate, such as Magnus Ejiogu, who died in detention in 2025.
Human rights organizations like RULAAC have been calling on the authorities since 2023, denouncing arbitrary detentions, torture to extract confessions, extortion (often amounting to millions of naira), and a culture of impunity comparable to the abuses committed before the #EndSARS movement.
A report that went viral in December 2025 claimed that the remains of numerous victims had been disposed of with acid or dumped in towns in Imo State, bordering Anambra State, areas also known for armed gang activity. This report from “Crew 67” amplified calls for an investigation, while the police denied the allegations, calling them exaggerated or malicious.
Imo police spokesman Henry Okoye dismissed many of the allegations as unfounded and insisted that Tiger Base was operating legitimately, although audits had led to the release of some detainees without charges being filed against the officers.
In the wake of the #EndSARS movement, civil society, activists, and online campaigns are urging President Tinubu, the Inspector General of Police, and Governor Uzodimma to dismantle Tiger Base, launch independent investigations, and ensure accountability to prevent further nationwide unrest.
“I think the government needs to do something about Tiger Base, because the officers there, some of whom are members of sects, have illegally detained, tortured and killed many innocent civilians,” human rights activist Comrade Uche Okoro told Gazette Africa, adding that surviving victims have been forced to pay millions of naira to police officers who are also involved in organ harvesting.