– About 41 people remanded in prison since 10 December 2025
– More cases of extra judicial executions and enforced disappearances reported
– 5 children between 3 months and 8 years reported missing at the facility
– Women detained for over 2 years hurriedly arraigned in court
A Nigerian human rights coalition has again accused the Anti-Kidnapping Unit of Imo State Police Command, known as Tiger Base, of orchestrating a rushed legal proceedings designed to mask systemic human rights violations following campaign exposing alleged abuses at the facility.
In a public statement released Saturday, the Coalition Against Tiger base Police Impunity (CAPTI) describe the move as a “performance of justice” saying it had documented that 41 people were remanded to Owerri Correctional Centre between December 10 and December 23, 2025. The spike in remands came just days after CAPTI launched its report titled “Tiger base files” and #TigerBaseMustFall campaign on December 15, releasing a comprehensive report that documented at least 200 deaths in Tiger Base custody.
“This is retaliation masquerading as law enforcement,” said Juwon Sanyaolu, CAPTI’s coordinator. “Within days of our report launch, Tiger Base dramatically tries to cover up its atrocities by decongesting its terror cells. The message is clear: demand accountability, and they will demonstrate exactly why accountability is needed.”
The timing of the mass remands has raised serious questions about the nature of the police unit’s operations. According to CAPTI’s documentation, 19 people were remanded on December 10, followed by 17 on December 16 (the day after the campaign launch), four on December 18, and one on December 23.
Women Held for Years Without Trial Suddenly Arraigned
Among the most troubling cases are seven women who had been held at Tiger Base for between one and two years without trial, only to be suddenly arraigned on December 16, one day after CAPTI’s report launch. The women’s cases expose what the coalition describes as a systematic practice of holding family members hostage for alleged crimes of male relatives.
Three of the women—Nkechinyere Ogu, Chinenye Obi, and Onyebuchi Anyanwu, had been detained since October 2023, over two years ago. Chinenye Obi was arrested with her one-year-nine-month-old son because of allegations against her husband. According to the coalition, she was beaten and tortured, and her son was taken from her to an unknown location. She has had no contact with him in over two years.
Onyebuchi Anyanwu was arrested with her three children;Peculiar (8 years), Ihuoma (5 years), and Onyinyechi (3 years) , also over allegations against her husband. After her health deteriorated and she was briefly released for treatment, she was arrested again despite paying 500,000 naira for her release. Her three children were taken to unknown locations over two years ago, and she has received no information about their whereabouts.
Nkechinyere Ogu’s case illustrates the alleged extortion practices at the facility. She went to Tiger Base voluntarily in October 2023 to negotiate the release of her sister-in-law and stepmother, who had been arrested because police could not locate her brother. She paid 950,000 naira for her own release but was never freed, remaining in detention for 26 months.
Four additional women arrested in late 2024 were also arraigned on December 16. Chinaza Ifeanyi was arrested in November 2024 with her two-month-old son. Her husband and two other men were allegedly killed by Tiger Base officers on February 26, 2025. Her infant son was taken from her, and his whereabouts remain unknown.
Missing Children and Enforced Disappearances
CAPTI said it has documented five children who were separated from their detained mothers and taken to unknown locations. The children range in age from two months to eight years old at the time of their disappearance. Despite their mothers being in continuous detention, in some cases for over two years, they have received no information about their children’s whereabouts, welfare, or even whether they are alive.
“The separation of infants and young children from their mothers, with no information provided about their location or welfare for years, constitutes enforced disappearance of minors,” Sanyaolu said. “These are children as young as two months old who have been taken to unknown locations. Their mothers live with the daily agony of not knowing if their babies are alive.”
The coalition also revealed additional previously undocumented killings. On February 26, 2025, Tiger Base officers allegedly killed three men who had been in custody since November 2024. A pregnant woman and two children aged 10 and 13, who were arrested alongside them, remain unaccounted for.
Systematic Concealment from Oversight
According to statements from detainees, Tiger Base officers systematically hid long-term prisoners during oversight visits. Nkechinyere Ogu and other women reported that officers would hide them and threaten them to remain silent whenever human rights monitors, lawyers, or journalists visited the facility. They would only be returned to their cells after the visitors departed. This practice may explain why the National Preventive Mechanism’s June 2025 visit to Tiger Base noted that “few detainees are brought out to the office of the commander” during monitoring visits, officers were deliberately concealing those held longest to prevent documentation of extended illegal detention.
All seven women were charged with terrorism-related offenses under the Nigerian Criminal Code, based solely on their relationships to men accused of membership in the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) or its armed wing, the Eastern Security Network (ESN). The coalition argues that these charges represent guilt by association, which is not a valid basis for prosecution under Nigerian law or international human rights standards.
Despite the publication of CAPTI’s report, widespread media coverage, and submission of documentation to UN Special Rapporteurs, Tiger Base continues to operate under the same leadership. ACP Oladimeji Adeyeyiwa, who was promoted in August 2025 despite commanding the unit during the period when at least 200 people allegedly died, remains as Tiger Base commander. Inspectors named in multiple cases of torture and extrajudicial killing continue serving as investigating officers.
CAPTI has submitted documentation to multiple international bodies, including UN Special Rapporteurs on Torture and Extrajudicial Executions, the UN Working Group on Enforced Disappearances, the Committee on the Rights of the Child, and the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights.
The coalition is demanding immediate disclosure of the missing children’s locations, suspension of implicated officers, independent investigation into the alleged killings, and structural reforms including prohibition of collective punishment and mandatory charging timelines. CAPTI is coordinating legal representation for the detained women and pursuing habeas corpus applications for the missing children. “Tiger Base’s response to our campaign proves our point,” Sanyaolu said. “They cannot reform because they are not interested in reform. They can only escalate, hide detainees from monitors, separate children from mothers, and rush people through courts under pressure. This is not a police unit, it is a criminal enterprise operating under state authority. It must be shut down.”
