A non-governmental civil rights and accountability organization, the Centre for Human Rights Advocacy and Wholesome Society (CEHRAWS), has expressed grave alarm over the continued operation of an Imo State-based police facility popularly known as ‘Tiger Base,’ despite credible evidence pointing to serious human rights violations by operatives attached to the facility.
The position was made known to The News Chronicle correspondent, following an extensive review of an investigative report titled ‘Tiger Base Files: Systematic Torture, Extrajudicial Killings, and the Collapse of Police Accountability in Imo State,’ published by the Coalition Against Police Tiger Base Impunity (CAPTI).
The CAPTI report documents at least 200 deaths in custody between January 2021 and November 2025, alongside systematic torture, enforced disappearances, extortion, hostage-taking of family members, defiance of court orders, and the killing of detainees even after intervention by the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC).
In the report, former detainees, families of victims, lawyers, and court records painted a chilling picture of a police unit operating outside the bounds of law, oversight, and humanity.
The CEHRAWS Executive Director, Chuka Okoye in a chat with TNC correspondent, said after a careful examination of the report and CAPTI’s accompanying press statement, the group finds the documented evidence compelling, disturbing, and consistent with numerous complaints previously received by the organisation.
He noted that the depth, methodology, and corroboration contained in the CAPTI report have necessitated CEHRAWS’ unequivocal public intervention and solidarity with ongoing calls for accountability.
Okoye said the CEHRAWS is particularly disturbed by findings indicating that torture at Tiger Base was not incidental but institutionalised, with designated torture chambers, routine denial of medical care, incommunicado detention, and the obstruction of autopsies and coroner’s inquests.
“Even more alarming is the documented pattern of promotion and commendation of officers implicated in these violations, reinforcing a culture in which impunity is not merely tolerated but rewarded.
“These practices constitute grave violations of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (as amended), notably the rights to life, dignity of the human person, personal liberty, and fair hearing, as well as breaches of the Anti-Torture Act, 2017; Police Act, 2020; Administration of Criminal Justice Act (ACJA); and Nigeria’s binding obligations under the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights, the UN Convention Against Torture (UNCAT), the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR).
“CEHRAWS underscores that no police unit, tactical squad, or security formation is above the law. Facilities that function as centres of terror rather than justice have no place in a constitutional democracy.
“The continued operation of Tiger Base, despite overwhelming and well-documented allegations, represents a clear and present danger to public safety, the rule of law, and Nigeria’s international human rights standing,” he said.
The group demanded the immediate shutdown of Tiger Base pending a thorough, independent, and transparent investigation, a comprehensive forensic, judicial, and administrative probe into the facility, its command structure, operational framework, and officers attached to it, and the identification, suspension, arrest, and prosecution of all officers found culpable of torture, extrajudicial killings, enforced disappearances, extortion, or defiance of court orders.
It emphasized the need for full accountability for all persons who died or disappeared in custody, including disclosure to families and independent autopsies where required, as well as reparations and remedies for victims, survivors, and affected families in accordance with Nigerian and international law.
“CEHRAWS stands in solidarity with victims, survivors, and civil society partners demanding justice. We reiterate that silence and inaction in the face of such atrocities amount to complicity. Nigeria must choose between the rule of law and the rule of fear.
“Justice must not only be done, it must be seen to be done,” the CEHRAWS boss posited.
