The Rule of Law and Accountability Advocacy Centre (RULAAC), a civic group, has called on the Inspector-General of Police and the Chairman of the Police Service Commission (PSC) to address the alleged indiscriminate arrests and extrajudicial killings of countless residents of Imo State by the anti-kidnapping unit, “Tiger Base” of the Imo State Police Command. The group cited an example of a man who was intercepted, arrested, and labeled members of the Eastern Security Network (ESN) by the police in Imo. The man and three other men were detained at Tiger Base until the next morning, where they died.
The group also reported that relatives of most of the people in the cell do not know their whereabouts and nobody comes for them. In few cases where relatives of detained persons find out and come to the base to inquire about them, the operatives would first deny or demand huge sums of money for ‘bail’.
RULAAC also reported that many others are languishing in the cell, starving, looking emaciated, and dying in turns like infected chickens because their relatives do not know where they are. They also noted that the operatives undressed and searched their bodies for bodily marks, which they use as a basis to label people ESN members.
RULAAC has contacted the Imo State Police PRO but has yet to respond to its request to find out from Tiger Base. The group calls on the Chairman of Police Service Commission and the Inspector General of Police to order an investigation into the operations of the Anti-Kidnapping Unit, Tiger Base, Owerri, Imo State, and take appropriate disciplinary actions against those found responsible for human rights violations, corrupt practices, misconduct, and dereliction of duty.
