Lawyers to Sue FG, South-East Governors, Army, Police, DSS Over Missing, Detained Residents, Demand Account for Every Person

Reported by: Ijeoma G | Edited by: Oravbiere Osayomore Promise.

A coalition of independent legal practitioners, operating under the aegis of Fiat Justitia, has vowed to institute a coordinated legal action against the Federal Government, the South-East Governors' Forum, the Nigerian Army, the Nigeria Police Force, and the Department of State Services over what they described as the alarming cases of missing, detained, and abducted residents of the South-East geopolitical zone. The lawyers, who addressed journalists at the Correspondents Chapel office in Umuahia on Monday, August 17, 2026, alleged that many South-East residents arrested by security agencies are yet to be accounted for, with some transferred to military detention centres far from the region and held for prolonged periods without trial.

A representative of Fiat Justitia, Adekoye Segun, raised the alarm that those arrested over alleged membership of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) are yet to be produced in court for trial or released to their families. He expressed concern that many of those who went missing after being abducted during midnight raids by security agencies were allegedly transported to military detention centres, including the Wawa facility in Niger State, and held for years without being brought before competent civilian courts. "We are preparing a coordinated legal action and accountability proceeding against the South-East Governors' Forum, the Federal Government of Nigeria, the Nigerian Army, the Nigerian Police Force, and the Department of State Services," Adekoye declared. "We will demand that they account for every missing person in the South-East. We will demand that they explain under oath why citizens arrested in the South-East are being transported to military detention centres in distant locations such as Wawa, Niger State, and held for prolonged periods without being properly brought before competent civilian courts."

The legal team, which is representing the families of the missing, abducted, and those presumed dead, presented a list of 80 persons whom they alleged were either missing, abducted, or presumed dead. The lawyers noted that affidavits, photographs, documented testimonies, and medical reports from families and survivors have been assembled to present the matter before the court. Adekoye demanded that South-East residents who have spent between four and eight years in detention without trial should be tried or released to their families. He cited victims of raids in Aba, Operation Python Dance in Umuahia, the Nkpor massacre, and other incidents, saying many of those affected had not been seen by their families since their arrest.

The coalition also expressed concern over allegations that some suspects arrested in the South-East were transferred to distant military detention facilities, including the Wawa facility in Niger State, where they were allegedly held for prolonged periods without being brought before civilian courts. The lawyers argued that the proscription of IPOB did not extinguish the constitutional rights of individual Nigerians. According to them, alleged membership of a proscribed organisation should not automatically result in indefinite detention, as every accused person is entitled to due process. "Produce them. Charge those against whom admissible evidence exists. Try them before competent civilian courts. Release those against whom there is none," the lawyers declared. They maintained that the same standard of justice should apply to all Nigerians, irrespective of ethnicity, political affiliation, or the nature of allegations against them.

The lawyers cited the case of Mrs Calista Ifedi, whom they said had reportedly been detained since 2021 over an alleged connection with IPOB and was later reported to have died in custody. They demanded that her remains be released to her family and that the circumstances surrounding her reported death be investigated. A former Wawa detainee subsequently described her deteriorating health and repeated complaints before her death, according to the lawyers. Amnesty International's 2025 investigation documented at least 1,844 people killed across the South-East between January 2021 and June 2023 amid violence involving multiple state and non-state actors, and documented unlawful killings, arbitrary arrests and detention, torture, enforced disappearances, and destruction of property during operations involving Nigerian security agencies. "This is not our rhetoric. It is the documented record of one of the world's leading human rights organizations," Adekoya declared.

The lawyers also called on the international community, including the United Nations, the African Union, the European Union, the United States, and the United Kingdom, to pay closer attention to allegations of arbitrary detention, enforced disappearance, torture, and unlawful killings in the South-East. They announced plans to compile a comprehensive register of missing persons based on sworn statements from affected families and submit the documentation to relevant international and regional human rights bodies. The legal team demanded an end to the practice of transferring suspects from the South-East to detention facilities in distant parts of the country and holding them there for prolonged periods without trial. They challenged the government to explain why the constitutional requirement of prompt production before a court is applied to some suspects and systematically withheld from others.

The group also acknowledged the need for security agencies to investigate and prosecute armed attacks and other violent crimes, but said the fight against insecurity should not come at the expense of constitutional safeguards. They referred to the recent attack on St Joseph Catholic Church, Inoyi-Affa, Udi Local Government Area of Enugu State, where worshippers were reportedly abducted during Mass. The lawyers commended the subsequent security operation that led to arrests, recovery of firearms, and rescue of victims, describing the development as an example of how criminal allegations should proceed through investigation, arrest, and prosecution. They, however, questioned why suspects allegedly linked to IPOB activities could remain in detention for years without being brought to trial. According to them, security and justice should complement rather than undermine each other.

The group stressed that they are not members of any political movement but concerned and independent legal practitioners retained by families whose lives have been shattered. "We appear on the instructions of Mazi Chris Nwaọgụ, Head of the Directorate of State of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), yet, we speak as officers of the Court, bound by our sacred oath to the Constitution and the Rule of Law," the statement read. "We are here because the rule of law lies in ruins across the South-East. We are here because thousands of Nigerian citizens, mostly Igbo sons and daughters, brothers and sisters, fathers and mothers, have been dragged from their beds, torn from the arms of their children, locked away without trial, tortured until their spirits break, and in too many cases, murdered. All of this, under the shadow of a proscription order."

As the legal team prepares to file its suit, the families of the missing and detained wait in anguish, hoping that the court will compel the government to account for their loved ones. The lawyers have made their position clear: the era of silence and impunity is over, and the time for accountability is now.

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