Reported by: Ijeoma G | Edited by: Oravbiere Osayomore Promise.
Amnesty International has called on the Federal Government to conduct prompt, independent, impartial, transparent, and effective investigations into allegations of widespread human rights violations and abuses in Nigeria's South-East region, including an estimated 1,840 extrajudicial killings between January 2021 and June 2023.
The organisation made the call on Thursday, July 2, 2026, in Awka, Anambra State, while presenting a report titled Human Rights and Accountability in the South-East Zone. The report documented violence and human rights violations committed by both state and non-state actors, including security forces, the state-backed Ebube Agu militia, so-called "unknown gunmen," and members of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) and its armed wing, the Eastern Security Network (ESN).
Presenting the report on behalf of Anesty International Nigeria, Maurice Chukwu said that between January 2021 and December 2024, the South-East experienced widespread violence, unlawful killings, torture, enforced disappearances, arbitrary arrests and detention, internal displacement, and suppression of the right to freedom of movement. He stated that armed groups have repeatedly attacked security personnel since 2020, resulting in the unlawful killing of security operatives and civilians.
The report alleged that Nigerian authorities have continued to crack down on suspected IPOB supporters, documenting cases of unlawful killings, extrajudicial executions, excessive use of force, torture, arbitrary arrests, prolonged detention, enforced disappearances, and unfair trials. It further alleged that security agencies have arbitrarily arrested suspected IPOB members, forcibly disappeared some of them, and detained others in secret facilities.
According to the report, an estimated 1,840 people were victims of extrajudicial killings in the South-East between January 2021 and June 2023, based on available research data. The report documented killings allegedly perpetrated by armed herders over grazing disputes in parts of the South-East, particularly in Enugu and Ebonyi states. It also presented documented evidence of armed groups that have turned several communities into "ungoverned spaces" by forcing out traditional rulers, displacing residents, and taking control of communities, including Agwa and Izombe in Oguta Local Government Area of Imo State and Lilu in Ihiala Local Government Area of Anambra State.
The report further highlighted abuses allegedly committed by cult groups operating with little resistance amid a thriving drug trade in several communities in Anambra State, including Obosi, Awka, Onitsha, Ogidi, and Umuoji. Chukwu urged the Federal Government to prosecute anyone reasonably suspected of responsibility through fair trials without recourse to the death penalty and to make the findings of all investigations public.
Amnesty International called on the Nigerian authorities to ensure access to justice and effective remedies for victims and their families, including restitution, compensation, rehabilitation, satisfaction, and guarantees of non-repetition. The organisation also urged the government to implement safeguards against human rights violations by security forces, including unlawful killings, arbitrary arrests, incommunicado detention, torture, enforced disappearances, extrajudicial executions, and unlawful airstrikes.
It further called on the government to assure the families of all persons arrested by security agencies or Ebube Agu operatives in the South-East that immediate steps would be taken to inform them of the fate and whereabouts of their relatives. Amnesty International also recommended that enforced disappearance be criminalised under Nigerian domestic law in line with the country's obligations under the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance.
The report comes amid growing international scrutiny of Nigeria's human rights record and escalating violence in the South-East, where the government has struggled to contain a wave of attacks by armed groups. The Federal Government has yet to officially respond to Amnesty International's latest call for investigations.
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