1,400 residents massacred in 14 months in South-East by security agents —Report

Nigerian security agencies led by the Nigerian Army killed no fewer than 1,400 residents in South-East states, report claims.

The report also said that about 1,000 homes were raised, adding that the incidents took place in 100 communities in the Igboland.

According to the report, the security agencies involved in the alleged massacre include the Nigeria Police Force, Department of State Services, the Nigerian Air Force and the Nigerian Navy.

The report, prepared by the International Society for Civil Liberties and Rule of Law (Intersociety) and titled, ‘Massacre in Eastern Nigeria: A Special Investigative Report’, was released on Wednesday, January 19, 2022, in Enugu State by the organisation’s Board of Trustees.

It was signed by the Board Chairman, Intersociety, Chief Emeka Umeagbalasi; Head of Campaign and Publicity, Chidimma Udegbunam; Head of Democracy and Government, Chinwe Umeche; Head, Civil Liberties and Rule of Law, Obianuju Igboeli; and Head of International Justice and Human Rights Programme, Chinaza Bernard, among others.

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The report said that 4,800 civilians were arrested, while 1,000 were missing and could not be accounted for within the 14 months spanning October 2020 till December 2021.

The report read, “The Nigerian security forces, presently structured along northern Muslim lines and deployed in Eastern Nigeria, had in 14 months or between late October 2020 and December 2021, killed no fewer than 1,150 defenceless citizens of Eastern Nigeria.

“All the victims were members of the Judeo-Christian faith and mostly ethnic Igbo citizens. Their killings represent a monthly average of 85 deaths and a daily average of three deaths, and could be a monthly average of 155 and a daily average of 5.5 deaths if the presumed dead 1,000 missing citizens are added.

“The security forces also abducted and disappeared till date in the same past 14 months at least 1,000 unarmed civilians arrested alive and unarmed and taken into security custody outside the knowledge of their families or lawyers, from where they have gone missing till date.

“Soldiers of the Nigerian Army are found to be responsible for at least 70 per cent of the abduction and disappearance, while the DSS, NPF, Nigerian Navy and Nigerian Air Force are separately and jointly responsible for the remaining 30 per cent.

“In the area of ‘perpetrator ratio’, soldiers of the Nigerian Army and various ‘special squads’ of the Nigeria Police Force are the lead killers or perpetrators.”

“The trio of governors Hope Uzodimma of Imo State, Nyesom Wike of Rivers State and David Umahi of Ebonyi State are the most vicariously culpable governors that aided and abetted the killings and property destruction, including burning of civilian homes and sanctuaries.”

Meanwhile, the Director, Army Public Relations, Brig-Gen Onyema Nwachukwu, has debunked the allegations, saying that it was outrageous and defective.

Nwachukwu added that the claims in the report were not only outrageous but cannot hold water. 

He explained that the joint operations led by the Nigerian Army and other security agencies had never targeted any defenceless and innocent Igbo person or group of persons as alleged in the report.

According to Nwachukwu, troops operated in the South-East with a very clear mandate to rid the South-East of criminals and stem the violent activities of members of the proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra and other dissident groups.