Rights group, Amnesty International (AI), has called on Nigerian authorities to address the security crisis in the south-east region.
It urged the authorities to carry out transparent, impartial and effective investigation of killings, assassinations, enforced disappearances and other atrocities committed by state and non-state actors since August 2015 in the zone.
Director of Amnesty International, Nigeria, Isa Sanusi, made the call during the overview of a report entitled, “A Decade of Impunity: Attacks and Unlawful Killings in South-East Nigeria,” in Enugu.
He noted that the persistent failure of the government to address the security crisis in the south-east has created a free-for-all reign of impunity in which numerous state and non-state actors have committed serious human rights violations and killed at least 1,844 people between January 2021 and June 2023.
According to the group, the report provides the authorities with adequate leads to open an investigation that will end the impunity and provide victims with justice.
“The Nigerian authorities’ brutal clampdown on pro-Biafra protests from August 2015 plunged the South-East region into an endless cycle of bloodshed, which has created a climate of fear and left many communities vulnerable. Assassinations of prominent personalities and attacks on highways, security personnel and facilities are chilling reminders of the region’s insecurity.
“The report is based on interviews with 100 people, including survivors, victims’ relatives, civil society members, lawyers, traditional leaders and religious leaders. Amnesty International also conducted research missions to Owerri in Imo state, Asaba in Delta state, Obosi in Anambra state, and Enugu in Enugu State between April 2023 and November 2023,” Isa said.
He noted that gunmen killed over 400 people in Imo State between January 2019 and December 2021, often emerging from their camps unmasked to carry out attacks on residents, police stations and vigilante offices, adding that the raids have triggered reprisal attacks resulting in death and injury for thousands of residents.
The AI director in Nigeria pointed out that victims of the insecurity described how the gunmen appear, routinely demanding money from communities during burial ceremonies and weddings.
“Anyone who resists risks being subjected to violent attack during the night and their house set on fire
“Ebule, who survived an attack by gunmen in Ihiala told Amnesty International that the ‘unknown gunmen’ are armed; some come with guns, cutlasses and machetes. If they come for an attack, anyone who blocks their way would be killed. It has been a terrible situation; people are scared.
“Nigerian authorities continue to blame the pro-Biafran organization, IPOB (Indigenous People of Biafra) and its militant arm, the Eastern Security Network (ESN), for most of the deadly attacks in the region but IPOB/ESN denied involvement in the activities of the ‘unknown gunmen.’
“However, the enforcement of a sit-at-home order by IPOB/ESN, across the South-East region, issued since August 9, 2021, has led to human rights violations with people beaten or even killed for defying the order. Schools have been shut, exams disrupted, forcing children to stay away from school. Markets have been closed with harsh economic consequences for communities across Abia, Anambra, Ebonyi, Enugu and Imo states.”
