ABUJA, NIGERIA — The veil of secrecy around the notorious Anti-Kidnapping Unit of the Imo State Police Command, known simply as “Tiger Base,” has been violently torn away. A devastating new report released today by the Coalition Against Tiger Base Impunity (CAPTI) claims the unit is not a law enforcement agency, but a state-sanctioned torture and death squad operating with absolute impunity.
The report, “Tiger Base Files: Systematic Torture, Extrajudicial Killings, and the Collapse of Police Accountability in Imo State,” documents a horrifying tally of at least 200 deaths in police custody between January 2021 and November 2025.
“Tiger Base has become synonymous with death, torture, and disappearance in Imo State,” stated Sanyaolu Juwon, Coordinator of CAPTI. He added that officers “torture detainees to death, defy court orders, ignore the Inspector General of Police, and even kill people after the National Human Rights Commission intervenes. Then they get promoted and awarded”.
The report paints a gruesome picture of life inside the facility. Former detainees spoke of nightly executions of between three and twenty persons, with bodies allegedly disposed of without informing the families.
The unit’s systematic use of designated “torture chambers” allegedly involves severe beatings, starvation, denial of medical care, and the horrific practice of “crucifixion”—hanging detainees from trees, which has resulted in permanent disability for survivors.
Some citizens have simply vanished. Reverend Cletus Nwachukwu Egole was arrested in February 2021 and has not been seen since. His wife, held for over a year before being released on bail, testified: “The moment we alighted from the vehicle, I saw my husband, and that was the last time I saw him. I don’t know if he is alive or dead”.
Perhaps the most shocking revelation is that officers implicated in these violations are allegedly rewarded, not punished.
Despite documented violations under his command, ACP Oladimeji Adeyeyiwa, the commander of Tiger Base, was promoted to Assistant Commissioner of Police in August 2025. Earlier, in June 2025, he was awarded the honour of “Best Crime Buster of the Year 2024”.
“The message is clear,” said Juwon. “Officers who torture, kill, and defy courts are not punished—they are promoted and given awards. The system does not merely tolerate impunity—it celebrates and incentivizes it”.
The report documents a complete collapse of institutional oversight. Tiger Base officers are said to brazenly defy judicial authority. In the case of Japhet Njoku, who died in custody in May 2025, officers refused to appear or comply with a Coroner’s Court order for an autopsy.
Even the intervention of Nigeria’s top rights body could not save a detainee. Magnus Ejiogudied in custody in October 2025, a month after the NHRC documented his torture and secured a directive from the Inspector General of Police to transfer his case.
The unit allegedly runs sophisticated extortion rings, forcing detainees and their families to pay sums ranging from ₦200,000 to ₦20 million for release. The amount is said to be determined by political affiliation, with opposition supporters facing higher demands.
Furthermore, when intended targets cannot be found, officers routinely arrest and detain spouses, children, or parents as hostages. This practice led to the death of Melody Eberechi Anyanwu’s 62-year-old father, who died after five days in custody as a hostage.
The unit is also accused of criminalizing dissent, detaining at least eight journalists, activists, and political critics of the Imo State government on fabricated charges. Fabian Ihekweme, a former commissioner turned government critic, was detained for 61 days without medical care or lawyer access until a court declared his detention illegal.
CAPTI is demanding the immediate suspension of ACP Oladimeji Adeyeyiwa and other implicated officers. They call for independent investigations into the documented deaths, accountability for the disappeared, and structural reforms to end incommunicado detention and guarantee unhindered oversight access.
The report concludes with a chilling indictment of the system: “Tiger Base is not an aberration—it is the logical endpoint of a system designed to ensure police impunity”.
