From Jude Chinedu, Enugu
Amnesty International has accused both state and non-state actors in the South-East region of gross human rights violations that have left at least 1,844 people dead between January 2021 and June 2023.
In a new report covering January 2021 to December 2024, titled “A decade of impunity, attacks and unlawful killings in the South East”, the human rights watchdog said that the violence, fuelled by activities of government-backed security outfits, separatist militias, “unknown gunmen”, and cult groups, has plunged the region into what it described as a “hybrid of criminal and political violence.”
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According to Amnesty International, “The security situation in South-East Nigeria involves a hybrid of criminal and political violence that different actors can choose to portray and manipulate to suit their interests.”
The organisation said that both state-backed forces such as the Ebube Agu paramilitary outfit and national security agencies, as well as non-state armed groups including the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), its militant wing Eastern Security Network (ESN), and ‘unknown gunmen’, were responsible for “widespread killings, torture, arbitrary arrests, enforced disappearances, and destruction of property.”
“Between January 2021 and June 2023, over 1,844 people were killed in the South-East region, while there were cases of abductions, mob violence, and electoral violence. As at the time of writing this report, the killings continued,” the report stated.
The group said it conducted in-person and phone interviews with more than 100 survivors and relatives of victims, alongside civil society representatives, lawyers, and religious leaders in Enugu, Abia, Imo, Anambra, and Ebonyi states. However, requests for meetings with the five South-East governors “did not receive any answer,” except from Anambra State, which “acknowledged receipt but did not provide an opportunity for a meeting.”
Amnesty International said several communities, particularly in Imo and Anambra States, had been overrun by armed groups who displaced residents, sacked traditional rulers, and established camps in forests.
“Many communities, including Agwa and Izombe in Oguta Local Government Area of Imo State, could be described as ‘ungoverned spaces’ due to the activities of gunmen who have taken total control of the communities,” the report said.
In Anambra State, the group identified forest camps in Lilu, Ukpor, Ihiala, Azia, Orsumoghu, and surrounding towns, while in Enugu State, it mentioned Nkwerre-Inyi forest in Oji River as a stronghold of armed groups.
The organisation also documented cult-related killings in towns such as Obosi, Awka, Onitsha, Ogidi, and Umuoji, where hundreds of people have died in violent clashes tied to drug trafficking and territorial control.
Amnesty International condemned the conduct of the Ebube Agu security outfit, established by the South-East governors in April 2021, accusing it of “arbitrary arrests, detention, torture, extrajudicial executions, enforced disappearances, extortion, and destruction of homes.”
Similarly, the Nigerian military was accused of committing grave abuses during several operations, including “Operation Python Dance I & II” and “Operation Udo Ka”, which spanned from 2016 to 2023.
“The Nigerian military has carried out airstrikes and ground operations that resulted in arbitrary arrests, torture, unlawful killings, enforced disappearances, and destruction of homes,” the report stated, citing incidents in Orlu and Orsu (Imo State), Amuzi and Odenkwume (Ihitte/Uboma), Aku Ihube (Okigwe), and Orsumoghu (Anambra State).
The organisation said the enforcement of IPOB’s sit-at-home order, first issued on 9 August 2021, had also resulted in “serious violations of the rights to life, freedom of movement, and education,” as attacks and threats by IPOB/ESN members kept residents indoors on Mondays and during sensitive anniversaries.
Amnesty International called on Nigerian authorities to “conduct prompt, independent, impartial, and effective investigations” into all allegations of human rights abuses by both state and non-state actors.
“Authorities must ensure access to justice and effective remedies for victims and their families, including restitution, compensation, rehabilitation, and guarantees of non-repetition,” the group said.
It further urged the government to assure families of persons arrested by security forces or Ebube Agu operatives of their relatives’ fate and whereabouts, and to criminalise enforced disappearance in line with international obligations.
“We call on all parties, state forces, ‘unknown gunmen,’ IPOB/ESN forces, and the state-backed Ebube Agu militia, to immediately cease all human rights violations and abuses, including extrajudicial executions, torture, enforced disappearances, and burning of homes in the South-East region,” Amnesty International declared.
The report concluded with an appeal for improved humanitarian support for displaced residents and students affected by insecurity, saying that “no student should be denied access to education as a result of the sit-at-home order.”
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