Inside Tiger Base: Nigeria’s Police Death Camp?” New report exposes torture, killings and impunity in Owerri
Maureen Aguta
A searing new human rights report delivered to Amnesty International yesterday has thrown the spotlight back on the controversial Tiger Base unit of the Nigeria Police Force, alleging systemic torture, extrajudicial executions, enforced disappearances and extortion at the notorious detention facility in Owerri.
The findings were launched by the Coalition Against Police Tiger Base Impunity (CAPTI) — a powerful alliance of civil society actors including Amnesty International Nigeria, Take It Back (TIB), Lawyers Without Borders, Youth Rights Campaign and over two million activists nationwide dedicated to ending police brutality in Nigeria.
The report paints Tiger Base, officially the Anti-Kidnapping Squad (AKS) of the Imo State Police Command, not as a crime-fighting unit but as an engine of state-sanctioned violence operating with near total impunity.
Allegations of Brutality and Deaths in Custody
According to CAPTI’s investigation — corroborated by interviews with former detainees, families of the missing, court records and coroner reports — suspects held at Tiger Base are routinely subjected to:
Hanging, starvation, beatings, shootings and mock executions during interrogation.
Extortion of families for release, sometimes demanding sums between ₦200,000 and ₦20 million.
Detention incommunicado, with relatives kept in the dark about detainees’ whereabouts.
The report alleges that at least 200 deaths and disappearances have been linked to the unit between 2021 and 2025 — including cases where officers allegedly ignored court orders and blocked autopsies.
One of the names highlighted is Japheth Njoku, a 32-year-old security guard allegedly tortured to death in custody in May 2025 after being arrested over a minor matter. CAPTI said police only transferred his body to a morgue without informing his family.
The coalition also alleges cases of political critics, journalists, lawyers and activists being detained on fabricated charges, ostensibly to silence dissent.
Human Rights Groups and Activists Push Back
Rights organisations have long sounded the alarm over Tiger Base:
37 civil society groups petitioned the Senate earlier in 2025, calling for a full probe into alleged abuses.
The Rule of Law and Accountability Advocacy Centre (RULAAC) condemned the continuing detention of individuals held without trial at the facility.
Amnesty International has also raised concerns about threats to human rights defenders exposing these abuses — including intimidation of RULAAC’s director and activists.
Police Responds with Denials and Defensive Measures
While allegations mount, the Imo State Police Command has repeatedly denied wrongdoing, insisting Tiger Base is a legitimate tactical unit tasked with combating kidnapping, armed robbery, cultism and violent crime.
Police spokespeople have dismissed claims of torture, extrajudicial killings and organ trafficking as false and misleading, attributing them to smear campaigns by criminal networks or political opponents.
The command says it has taken steps to strengthen oversight — including establishing a Human Rights Desk within the unit — and urges citizens to report complaints through official channels.
Nigeria’s Image and the Rule of Law at Stake
Human rights observers say Tiger Base has become not just a local controversy but a national embarrassment, emblematic of broader failures in policing and accountability. Amnesty International’s impending detailed report — expected to be published soon — is likely to intensify domestic and international scrutiny.
For victims’ families and activists, the message is clear: justice must be served, accountability upheld, and police impunity dismantled. The push for reforms is gaining momentum, but whether it will translate into meaningful change remains one of Nigeria’s most urgent human rights questions.