Imo: Amnesty alleges torture, extrajudicial killings at ‘Tiger Base’

Image

A police unit established to combat kidnapping and armed robbery in Imo State has instead become a hub of alleged extrajudicial executions, torture and systematic extortion, Amnesty International said in a report released on Wednesday.

The unit, popularly known as “Tiger Base,” as stated in the report operates under the Imo State Police Command in Owerri.

According to the report, titled “Tiger Base of Atrocities: Human Rights Violations by Nigeria Police Anti-Kidnapping Unit Owerri,” detainees are routinely held in inhuman conditions, coerced into making confessions and, in some cases, shot or forcibly disappeared.

Amnesty International Nigeria Director, Isa Sanusi, in the report issued by its Social Media and Communications Officer, Michael Christian, said the unit had become notorious for abuse of power.

“Tiger Base has become synonymous with police operating outside of the law and abusing their power to enrich themselves through extortion.

“Those arrested and detained by this unit are subjected to torture and ill-treatment, they never come out intact. Many are traumatised forever.

“Despite the horrific violations they have suffered, there has been no accountability to date,” he said. Punch