Reported by: Oahimire Omone Precious | Edited by: Oravbiere Osayomore Promise.
The Rule of Law and Accountability Advocacy Centre (RULAAC) has filed four landmark public interest lawsuits before the High Court of Imo State in Owerri, accusing the Anti-Kidnapping Unit of the Imo State Police Command, popularly known as "Tiger Base," of a chilling pattern of systemic human rights violations including torture, arbitrary arrest, forced labour, illegal extrajudicial killings, extortion, and the enforced disappearance of infants. The four fundamental rights enforcement suits, obtained by SaharaReporters on Monday, August 3, 2026, were filed on July 21, 2026, by RULAAC's lead counsel, Chinedu Agu, on behalf of eight victims, and have been formally fixed for hearing before the court on Wednesday, August 5, 2026.
The suits name as respondents the Nigeria Police Force, the Inspector-General of Police, the Police Service Commission, the Commissioner of Police in Imo State, the Commander of the Anti-Kidnapping Unit, ACP Oladimeji Odeyeyiwa, and several operational officers attached to the unit. According to the court filings, seven of the eight applicants allege they spent more than two years in Tiger Base detention without being convicted of any offence, and that they were arrested not because they committed crimes, but because they were wives, girlfriends, sisters, or relatives of persons the police wanted. The filings unveil a deeply troubling pattern where women were allegedly arrested as proxies for their wanted male relatives, subjected to degrading forced labour, tortured in custody, and forcibly separated from their infant children whose whereabouts remain unknown years after their abduction.
In one of the most harrowing cases detailed in Suit No: HOW/475/2026, brought on behalf of Onyebuchi Anyanwu, Chinenye Obi, and Nkechinyere Ogu, court documents disclose that Onyebuchi Anyanwu was arrested in 2023 alongside her three young children—Peculiar (5), Ihuoma (8), and Onyinyechi (3)—over allegations concerning her husband's suspected links to the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) and the Eastern Security Network. The infants were forcibly removed from her custody shortly after arriving at Tiger Base, and by the time these legal proceedings were initiated in late July 2026, police authorities had failed to account for or disclose the location, welfare, and custody of the four missing children. Similarly, applicant Chinenye Obi was arrested alongside her one-year-and-nine-month-old son, who was also ripped away from her custody. The applicants are asking the court for a declaration that the removal of the children, followed by the continuing failure to disclose their whereabouts, welfare, and present custody, is unlawful and constitutes continuing violations of the dignity and family rights of the mothers and children.
The relief details further expose that the detained women were subjected to systematic forced labour between 6:00 a.m. and 6:00 p.m. daily, compelling them to wash officers' clothes, carry stones and sand, perform construction work, cook for hundreds of detainees, and clean or cover the blood of executed inmates under compulsion, constituting forced labour, servitude, and degrading treatment prohibited by Section 34 of the Constitution. The women were held incommunicado without trial from late 2023 until their formal arraignment on December 16, 2025. In another case, Chinaza Ifeanyi alleged that she was arrested while nursing a two-month-old baby and was separated from the child, assaulted, forced to sign documents she didn't prepare, and had ₦30,000 withdrawn from her bank account using her ATM card without consent. She is suing alongside Munachi Ifeanyi and Chidera Onyemuwa, all alleging detention based on relationships, not offences.
Another suit was filed on behalf of Kenneth Anyanwu, who said he was shot in the abdomen during a police operation despite not being the target, and was left bleeding in the boot of a police vehicle for hours before receiving treatment. He is asking the court to determine if the use of force was lawful. The remaining applicants, Ngozi Ogbonna, Chinenye Obi, and Nkechinyere Ogu, also allege unlawful arrest, prolonged detention, and violations of constitutional rights. The suits are backed by sworn affidavits and cite reports by Amnesty International and the Coalition Against Police Tiger Base Impunity (CAPTI), both of which have documented allegations against the unit.
RULAAC Executive Director, Okechukwu Nwanguma, described the cases as landmark public interest litigation that could become one of the most significant judicial examinations of police brutality and impunity in recent years. He said the cases raise fundamental questions about the limits of police powers, the prohibition of torture, the protection of personal liberty, and whether family members can be arrested because of their relationships. He added that while respondents are entitled to defend themselves, "accountability demands that allegations of this gravity be subjected to independent judicial scrutiny." RULAAC has called on the Inspector-General of Police, Police Service Commission, National Human Rights Commission, NBA, CSOs, media, and the public to monitor the proceedings. "Justice for victims of torture and unlawful detention is indispensable to rebuilding public confidence in policing and reaffirming that no institution or public official is above the Constitution," Nwanguma said. "The hearing is more than a court date. It is a test of Nigeria's commitment to justice, accountability, and the rule of law."
For years, Tiger Base has featured in allegations of torture, prolonged detention without trial, and enforced disappearances. RULAAC noted that the August 5 hearing provides the first opportunity for many of those claims to be tested with sworn evidence in court. The group said the hearing is more than a court date; it is a test of Nigeria's commitment to justice, accountability, and the rule of law. As the legal proceedings begin, the eyes of the nation will be on the Imo State High Court to see whether the victims will finally get the justice they have been denied for years, and whether the notorious Tiger Base unit will finally be held accountable for its alleged reign of terror.
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