Amnesty International has released a damning report accusing Nigeria’s police, military, the South-East regional security outfit Ebube Agu, and non-state actors of widespread killings, enforced disappearances, torture, and other human rights abuses in the region.
The report, titled “A Decade of Impunity: Attacks and Unlawful Killings in Southeast Nigeria,” states that at least 1,844 people were killed between January 2021 and June 2023 by both state and non-state actors. Amnesty linked the current climate of fear and insecurity to the Nigerian authorities’ violent crackdown on pro-Biafra protests in August 2015, which it said plunged the region into “an endless cycle of bloodshed.”
According to Isa Sanusi, Amnesty International Nigeria’s Director, the government has turned a blind eye to “unlawful killings, arbitrary arrests and detention, torture, enforced disappearances, and destruction of properties.” He urged authorities to ensure perpetrators face justice through fair trials, regardless of their position, and to provide victims and their families with remedies.
The 100-interview research included survivors, victims’ relatives, lawyers, traditional and religious leaders, and civil society members, alongside fact-finding missions to Imo, Delta, Anambra, and Enugu states. Amnesty documented violent attacks by “unknown gunmen,” who it said killed over 400 people in Imo State between 2019 and 2021, often raiding communities unmasked, extorting money, burning homes, and killing those who resisted.
Authorities have repeatedly blamed the pro-Biafra group IPOB and its militant wing, the Eastern Security Network (ESN), for the violence. While IPOB/ESN deny involvement in the “unknown gunmen” killings, their sit-at-home orders, enforced with violence since August 2021, have led to beatings, killings, and economic hardship across the South-East.
The report highlights that many residents now avoid traveling to their hometowns, while cultural and social ceremonies have been relocated outside the region due to security fears. Some communities, such as Agwa and Izombe in Imo State and Lilu in Anambra, are reportedly under the full control of armed groups.
Ebube Agu, established in April 2021 by South-East governors, was accused of being used to intimidate political opponents and critics, and of carrying out arbitrary arrests, torture, enforced disappearances, and extrajudicial killings. Amnesty also documented abuses by cult groups in Anambra State and rights violations by Nigerian security forces during military operations in the region.
Despite the scale of atrocities, justice has remained elusive for victims. Sanusi stressed that Nigerian authorities must uphold their human rights obligations, launch transparent and impartial investigations, and address the “free-for-all reign of impunity” in the South-East.
The government, police, and army have yet to respond to the allegations.
