Nigeria: Thousands killed, hundreds forcibly disappeared in two years in South-East region

• 1,844 people killed between January 2021 and June 2023
• Gunmen killed over 400 people in Imo state between 2019 and 2021
• Hundreds of people arbitrarily detained and forcibly disappeared

The Nigerian authorities’ persistent failure to address the security crisis in the country’s South-East region has created a free-for-all reign of impunity in which numerous state and non-state actors have committed serious human rights violations and killed at least 1,844 people between January 2021 and June 2023, Amnesty International said today.

The report, A Decade of Impunity: Attacks and Unlawful Killings in Southeast Nigeria, documents unlawful killings, torture and other ill-treatment, enforced disappearances, arbitrary arrests and displacement at the hands of rampaging gunmen, state-backed paramilitary outfits, vigilantes, criminal gangs and cults in the South-East region between January 2021 and December 2024.

“The Nigerian authorities’ brutal clampdown on pro-Biafra protests from August 2015 plunged the South-East region into an endless cycle of bloodshed, which has created a climate of fear and left many communities vulnerable. Assassinations of prominent personalities and attacks on highways, security personnel and facilities are chilling reminders of the region’s insecurity,” said Isa Sanusi, Director of Amnesty International Nigeria.

“The government must stop turning a blind eye to the unlawful killings, arbitrary arrests and detention, torture, enforced disappearances, and destruction of properties in the South-East region. Authorities must live up to their constitutional and international human rights obligations including by ensuring all suspected perpetrators are brought to justice in fair trial, no matter who they are, and that victims and their families have access to justice and effective remedies.”

The report is based on interviews with 100 people, including survivors, victims’ relatives, civil society members, lawyers, traditional leaders, and religious leaders. Amnesty International also conducted research missions to Owerri in Imo state, Asaba in Delta state, Obosi in Anambra state, and Enugu in Enugu state between April 2023 to November 2023.

Violent attacks by “unknown gunmen”

Gunmen killed over 400 people in Imo state between January 2019 and December 2021, often emerging from their camps unmasked to carry out attacks on residents, police stations, and vigilante offices. The raids have triggered reprisal attacks resulting in death and injury for thousands of residents.

Victims described how the gunmen appear, routinely demanding money from communities during burial ceremonies and weddings. Anyone who resists risks being subjected to violent attack during the night, and their house set on fire.

Ebulie, who survived an attack by gunmen in Ihiala told Amnesty International: “The “unknown gunmen” are armed – some come with guns, cutlasses, and machetes. If they come for an attack, anyone that blocks their way, they will kill them. It has been a terrible situation, people are scared…”

Nigerian authorities continue to blame the pro-Biafran organization IPOB (Indigenous People of Biafra) and its militant arm, the Eastern Security Network (ESN) for most of the deadly attacks in the region. IPOB/ESN deny involvement in the activities of the “unknown gunmen” and their camps.

However, the enforcement of a sit-at-home order by IPOB/ESN, across the South-East region, issued on 9 August 2021, has led to human rights violations with people beaten or even killed for defying the order. Schools have been shut, exams disrupted, forcing children to stay away from schools. Markets have been closed with harsh economic consequences for communities across Abia, Anambra, Ebonyi, Enugu and Imo states.

Climate of fear and disruption to daily life

Insecurity in South-East Nigeria has affected people’s rights including the rights to life, physical integrity, security, liberty and freedom of movement. Many people have not travelled to their hometowns for several years for fear of attack or abduction. Traditional marriage and burial ceremonies that were normally conducted in people’s ancestral homes now mostly take place in other communities outside the South-East due to fear of attack by the gunmen.

Gunmen have turned some communities into “ungoverned spaces,” by sacking traditional rulers, displacing residents, and taking total control of communities, including Agwa and Izombe in the Oguta Local Government Area (LGA) of Imo state and Lilu in Ihiala LGA of Anambra State.

Amnesty International’s report also documents abuses and killings by various cult groups, which operate unchecked amidst a thriving drug business, in several towns in Anambra state, including Obosi, Awka, Onitsha, Ogidi and Umuoji.

The report reveals how the state-backed Ebube Agu paramilitary force, established by the South-East governors on 11 April 2021, has been used as a tool to harass and intimidate opponents and critics of the state governments. It is also responsible for arbitrary arrests and detention, torture, extrajudicial executions, enforced disappearances, and destruction of homes.

During military operations in the South-East, Nigerian security agencies, including the military and police, committed unlawful killings, arbitrary arrests and detention, torture, enforced disappearances, and destruction of property.

Despite the scale of the atrocities against the people, justice and adequate reparations have eluded victims of the violence.

“No one knows exactly the number of people killed in the southeast since August 2015. Many people have been declared missing or forcibly disappeared. The number of high-profile killings and the consistent fear of possible attacks, anywhere and anytime, show how badly the authorities are failing to protect lives and property and ensure law and order. Impunity for these human rights crimes continues to have a chilling effect on the enjoyment of other human rights,” said Isa Sanusi.

“The Nigerian authorities must uphold their constitutional and international human rights obligations by guaranteeing, protecting and ensuring the rights to life, physical integrity, and liberty security and safety of the people and stemming the tide of rampant insecurity in South-East region. Authorities must undertake prompt, thorough, independent, impartial, transparent and effective investigations into all allegations of violations and abuses committed by state and non-state actors in the region.”

Background

Amnesty International has been documenting human rights violations by state, non-state, criminal gangs, and state backed paramilitary outfits in the south since August 2015. This report builds on the research published on 24 November 2016, detailing brutal  crackdown on pro-Biafra activists by Nigerian security forces. Findings of this report were shared with the governors of South-East states and Nigeria’s security agencies. No response was received.

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of Amnesty International.