An investigative report released on Monday by the Coalition Against Police Tiger Base Impunity (CAPTI) revealed that officers of the Nigeria Police Force’s Anti-Kidnapping Unit in Imo State, popularly known as Tiger Base, are involved in systematic torture, extrajudicial killings, enforced disappearances, and large-scale extortion.
The report documents at least 200 deaths in police custody between 2021 and 2025.
The report, titled “Tiger Base Files: Systematic Torture, Extrajudicial Killings, and the Collapse of Police Accountability in Imo State,” was officially launched in Abuja by Comrade Omoyele Sowore, convener of the RevolutionNow Movement, at a press conference attended by victims’ families, lawyers, civil society organisations, and human rights defenders.
Presenting the findings, Sanyaolu Juwon, CAPTI Coordinator, and National Coordinator of the Take It Back Movement, described Tiger Base as “a factory of death operating with total impunity.”
“What we uncovered is not policing; it is a system of state-sanctioned torture and murder,” Juwon said. “Detainees are tortured to death, families are extorted, court orders are ignored, and even when the National Human Rights Commission intervenes, people still end up dead. Officers responsible are rewarded with promotions.”
According to the report, detainees are routinely held incommunicado, tortured in designated “torture chambers,” and denied access to lawyers, medical care, or their families. Former detainees interviewed described nightly executions, with bodies allegedly disposed of secretly and families left without information.
Among the documented cases is that of Japhet Njoku, a 32-year-old security guard who died in custody in May 2025 after months of torture over unproven theft allegations. Despite a coroner’s court ordering an autopsy and officers to testify, police allegedly defied multiple court directives. No officer has been sanctioned, and the unit commander was later promoted.
The report also highlights enforced disappearances, including that of Reverend Cletus Nwachukwu Egole, who was arrested with his family in 2021 and has never been seen again, and Chinonso Eluchie, a commercial motorcyclist arrested in September 2025 and allegedly threatened with death after his wife demanded information about his whereabouts.
Another case detailed is Magnus Ejiogu, who died in custody weeks after the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) formally intervened and reportedly secured approval from the Inspector-General of Police for his transfer out of Tiger Base—an order the unit allegedly ignored.
CAPTI documented widespread use of torture methods including severe beatings, electric shocks, starvation, suspension from trees (described as “crucifixion”), and denial of medical care. Survivors displayed scars, permanent disabilities, and untreated injuries.
One former detainee told investigators he was hanged from a tree for hours and later accused of terrorism when his family could not raise a ₦2 million bribe for his release.
The report describes an elaborate extortion system in which families are forced to pay between ₦200,000 and ₦20 million for the release of detainees. In some cases, officers allegedly determine bail amounts based on perceived political affiliation, with critics of the Imo State government facing harsher treatment.
CAPTI also documented the arrest of journalists, lawyers, labour leaders, and political critics, including former Imo State commissioner Dr. Fabian Ihekweme, whose detention was later declared illegal by a court.
Family members, including women and children, are reportedly arrested as hostages when police cannot locate suspects. In one case, a pregnant woman lost her pregnancy after alleged torture, while her father died in custody.
One of the report’s most disturbing findings is that officers implicated in abuses have been promoted and publicly honoured. The commander of Tiger Base, Oladimeji Adeyeyiwa, was promoted to Assistant Commissioner of Police in August 2025 and earlier awarded “Best Crime Buster of the Year,” despite widespread allegations under his command.
“The message is unmistakable,” Juwon said. “In Nigeria, officers who torture and kill are not punished, they are rewarded.”
Launching the report, Omoyele Sowore described the findings as evidence of a deep-seated collapse of accountability within Nigeria’s policing system.
“Tiger Base is not an isolated case. It is the product of a system that protects killers in uniform and criminalises citizens,” Sowore said. “If this level of brutality is allowed to continue, Nigeria risks another national uprising like #EndSARS, only worse.”
CAPTI called for the immediate suspension and prosecution of officers named in the report, independent investigations into all documented deaths, and reparations for victims and their families.
The coalition also demanded structural reforms, including mandatory identification for officers, unhindered oversight access, and strict compliance with court orders.
The report has been submitted to UN Special Rapporteurs, the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights, the ECOWAS Court, and international diplomatic missions.
While focused on Imo State, CAPTI warned that Tiger Base reflects a wider national pattern of police abuse following the failure of reforms promised after the 2020 #EndSARS protests.
“Tiger Base is not an aberration,” the report concludes. “It is the logical outcome of a system that has chosen impunity over justice.”
CLICK ON THE LINK BELOW TO ACCESS THE FULL REPORT
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1TnAcO7xu11d3KixTRgRh8HwhzPMfAoVE/view?usp=drivesdk
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