Amnesty International has accused both state and non-state actors of committing widespread human rights violations across Nigeria’s South-East, alleging that at least 1,840 people were victims of extrajudicial killings between January 2021 and June 2023.
The organisation called for investigations into allegations of extrajudicial killings and other human rights violations committed by both state and non-state actors, including security forces, the state-backed Ebube Agu militia, so-called ‘unknown gunmen,’ and members of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) and its armed wing, the Eastern Security Network (ESN).
It urged the government to prosecute anyone reasonably suspected of responsibility through fair trials without recourse to the death penalty and to make the findings of all investigation public.
The organisation made the call on Thursday while presenting its report, Human Rights and Accountability in the South-East Zone, in Awka, the Anambra State capital.
The report documented killings allegedly perpetrated by armed herders over grazing disputes in parts of the South-East, particularly in Enugu and Ebonyi states.
It also presented documented evidence of the activities of armed groups that have turned several communities into what it described as ‘ungoverned spaces’ by forcing out traditional rulers, displacing residents, and taking control of communities, including Agwa and Izombe in Oguta Local Government Area of Imo State and Lilu in Ihiala Local Government Area of Anambra State.
Presenting the report on behalf of Amnesty International Nigeria, Maurice Chukwu said the South-East experienced a wave of unlawful killings, torture, enforced disappearances, arbitrary arrests, prolonged detention and internal displacement between January 2021 and December 2024.
According to him, thousands of residents have suffered serious human rights violations as insecurity worsened across the region.
The report alleged that Nigerian security agencies have continued a crackdown on suspected IPOB supporters, documenting cases of unlawful killings, excessive use of force, torture, enforced disappearances and prolonged detention, while also accusing IPOB, ESN and other armed groups of carrying out unlawful killings, attacks on security personnel and civilians, and widespread intimidation.
It further alleged that security agencies have arbitrarily arrested suspected IPOB members, forcibly disappeared some of them, and detained others in secret facilities.
Amnesty International called on the Nigerian authorities to ensure access to justice and effective remedies for victims and their families, including restitution, compensation, rehabilitation, satisfaction, and guarantees of non-repetition.
The organisation also urged the government to implement safeguards against human rights violations by security forces, including unlawful killings, arbitrary arrests, incommunicado detention, torture, enforced disappearances, extrajudicial executions, and unlawful airstrikes.
Amnesty International also recommended that enforced disappearance be criminalised under Nigerian domestic law in line with the country’s obligations under the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance.
“Ensure that no student is denied access to education as a result of the sit-at-home order. If students and teachers are unable to access schools, develop and implement innovative ways for them to continue learning remotely,” the report stated.
Amnesty International also called on all parties to the conflict, including security forces, the Ebube Agu militia, IPOB/ESN, so-called ‘unknown gunmen,’ and other armed groups, to immediately cease all human rights violations and abuses, including extrajudicial executions, unlawful killings, torture, enforced disappearances, and the burning of homes across the South-East.
The organisation said it conducted three research missions across Imo, Anambra, Abia, Ebonyi, and Enugu states and during the missions, its researchers interviewed residents of the five states at secure locations in Enugu.
It added that researchers met with representatives of civil society organisations, lawyers, and religious leaders in the region and conducted both in-person and telephone interviews with more than 100 survivors and relatives of victims of human rights violations.
However, Amnesty International said its requests to meet with the governors of the five South-East states received no response, except from the Anambra State Government, which acknowledged receipt of the request but did not provide an opportunity for a meeting.
Amnesty International further stated that there is no clear distinction between the activities of the “unknown gunmen” and IPOB/ESN, maintaining that both have been implicated in serious human rights violations and abuses.
The report identified several forest camps allegedly used by armed groups across the region.
“In Imo State, the camps are reportedly located in forests around Okigwe, Mbaitoli, Arondizuogu, Thiteukwa, Ihitenansa, Okwudo, Agwa, Izombe, Umuorji Mgbidi, Ihube, Atta, Aku Umulolo, and the Njaba River axis along the Awo-Omamma and Ezioha border.
“In Anambra State, the camps were identified in forests around Lilu, Ukpor, Ezinifite, Nnewi, Unubi, Akwaihedi, Umunze, Isseke, Mbosi, Ihiala, Azia, Okija, Uga, Idemili, Nnebo, Ihembosi, Ukpor, and Mother Valley in Orsumoghu.
“In Enugu State, the report identified camps in the Nkwere Inyi Forest in Oji River Local Government Area, while in Ebonyi State, camps were reportedly located in forests around Mgbalukwu and Inyimagu in Izzi Local Government Area,” it said.
The report stated that the police appear unable to effectively address insecurity or carry out arrests in several parts of the South-East, particularly in Ihiala Local Government Area of Anambra State, following sustained attacks on security personnel.
It also highlighted the activities of cult groups in towns including Obosi, Awka, Onitsha, Ogidi, and Umuoji in Anambra State, where they allegedly operate with little resistance amid an active drug trade, resulting in hundreds of deaths linked to cult-related violence.
Amnesty International further stated that the enforcement of the sit-at-home order declared by IPOB has resulted in widespread human rights abuses across the South-East, including violations of the rights to life, freedom of movement, and education.
