The Amnesty International comes hard on the excesses and illegalities of the Tiger Base Police Unit in Owerri Imo State, accusing it of involvement in rampant violations including extrajudicial executions, torture and extortion
By Our Correspondent
The Nigeria Police Anti-Kidnapping Unit based in Owerri, the Imo State capital, which now goes by the sobriquet, ‘Tiger Base’, was set up to tackle kidnapping and armed robbery in the state. True to the characteristics of the Nigeria Police operatives, the Imo State Tiger Base Police has metamorphosed into a terror gang, according to the Amnesty International (AI), which stock-in-trade includes torture, killings and extortion of its victims. The AI accused the Tiger Base Police of unlawfully killing suspects, torturing and ill-treating detainees to coerce them into confessing to bogus crimes, and arresting people for the sole purpose of extracting lucrative bribes for their release, the international organization stated on Wednesday, February 25, 2026.
The police unit, ‘Tiger Base’, is increasingly being used to arrest and detain people to settle scores, including land disputes and family conflicts. AI’s investigation titled, “Tiger Base of Atrocities: Human Rights Violations by Nigeria Police Anti-Kidnapping Unit in Owerri”, published on Wednesday, found that detainees are kept in filthy, windowless cells and subjected to regular beatings. Many are locked up for weeks or months, without charge. Others have been shot or forcibly disappeared.
The AI said, “Tiger Base has become synonymous with police operating outside of the law and abusing their power to enrich themselves through extortion. The atrocities committed by the Tiger Base police unit is yet another sign of the Nigerian authorities’ failure to end widespread torture, extrajudicial execution, extortion and other crimes at the hands of law enforcement. Many are traumatized forever. Despite the horrific violations they have suffered, there has been no accountability to date,” said Isa Sanusi, Director of Amnesty International Nigeria.
Many detainees locked up at Tiger Base’s detention centre are not asked for their statements regarding the allegations they face, and neither are they brought before a court. This enables the police to unlawfully detain people for indefinite periods of time without arraignment, thereby depriving them of essential procedural safeguards.
One survivor of prolonged unlawful detention told Amnesty International, “They arrested me insisting I bought stolen items. I told them I didn’t know anything about it. They locked me up and seized my phone. After about three weeks, a police officer came to take my statement. Still, they kept me locked up. They later told us that the complainant claimed her loss was worth ₦14 million (US$9,500) but that she agreed to collect ₦4.5 million (US$3,100) instead. They said if I wanted to be released, my family would pay.”
Former detainees said they were forced to write incriminating statements under torture, which included severe beatings with iron rods and cables. Knives, machetes, batons, water and whips were also used to torture suspects. Some detainees were tied up with ropes so that their bodies were hanging. Then they were cut and their wounds left to bleed.
AI stated that the resulting coerced “confessions” were used by police to demand a bribe that would have to be paid before a detainee could be released on bail. Former detainees said Tiger Base officers illegally arrest and detain dozens of people every day with the sole aim of extorting money from their relatives in exchange for suspects being released.
There is a thriving illegal point of sale (POS) business within the premises of the Tiger Base detention centre. In Nigeria, handheld POS machines act like an ATM allowing people to withdraw cash instantly from their bank accounts.
The AI also alleged that investigation showed that, at Tiger Base, officials from time to time take out inmates from the cells and shoot them. A survivor told our organization, “The other guy took him out, we heard gunshots, we thought they had killed him but after some hours in the night he came into the cell. We looked at his leg, and they shot him. He is carrying bullet wounds inside the cell with us; nobody cares.”
Each of Tiger Base’s four main detention cells measures about 12 feet by 12 feet with more than 70 people squeezed inside. As a result, detainees are forced to take turns either to sit or squat.
Testimonies collected by Amnesty International indicated that few people sent to Cell 1 came out alive. According to a former detainee, “If you survive Cell 1, it is only by God’s grace. Many people disappeared after being moved there; nobody ever saw them again.”
