The Rule of Law and Accountability Advocacy Centre (RULAAC) has criticised the Imo State Police Command’s response to a viral video alleging torture, organ trafficking, and extrajudicial killings at the command’s Anti-Kidnapping Unit, popularly known as Tiger Base.
According to the organisation’s Executive Director, Mr. Okechukwu Nwanguma, while the Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), DSP Henry Okoye, may be correct that the specific video in circulation is false or exaggerated, the command’s statement “conspicuously avoids” the longstanding and well-documented allegations of human rights abuses linked to the unit.
Mr. Nwanguma said the police were right to dispel misinformation, describing it as responsible policing. However, he stressed that this does not address deeper concerns surrounding Tiger Base’s operations. “What cannot be dismissed is the undeniable, well-documented pattern of egregious human rights violations committed by operatives of Tiger Base over the past three years,” he said, noting that multiple victims, families, lawyers and civil society groups have repeatedly raised alarms.
In its earlier statement, the police highlighted the Anti-Kidnapping Unit’s achievements in dismantling kidnapping and armed robbery syndicates across Imo State. But RULAAC argued that these successes do not negate allegations of rights violations. “A unit can record achievements and still commit atrocities. The credibility of the police depends on their ability to enforce the law without breaking it,” Nwanguma stated.
RULAAC referenced several cases it has monitored, including the arrest of Izuchukwu Madueke in 2023 over a civil business disagreement. The organisation alleged that Madueke was detained unlawfully, denied his rights under Section 32 of the Police Act and released only after payment was extracted.
It also cited the arrest of two young men at an ATM point, who were reportedly tortured despite the police acknowledging that they had been picked up in error. They were eventually freed after paying money. RULAAC added that other victims, whose identities are withheld for safety reasons, have described undergoing beatings, starvation, denial of bail and threats to their lives.
“These are not isolated incidents,” Nwanguma said. “They reflect a system operating without functional oversight and in disregard of the Police Act 2020 and the Anti-Torture Act 2017.”
RULAAC also criticised the police command for warning citizens under the Cybercrime Act 2015 over the circulation of false information while failing to address serious allegations against its operatives.
Nwanguma said it was troubling that the police were quick to threaten punishment for misinformation but reluctant to acknowledge complaints supported by credible evidence. He emphasised that acts such as torture, secret detention, extortion, denial of access to lawyers and conduct amounting to enforced disappearance all violate national laws and constitutional protections.
The organisation acknowledged the establishment of a Human Rights Desk within Tiger Base but argued that internal mechanisms cannot serve as substitutes for independent oversight. Nwanguma noted that an accountability structure embedded within the same unit accused of abuses risks being ineffective, stressing that only external bodies such as the Police Service Commission, the Complaints Response Unit (CRU) and the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) can credibly investigate these allegations.
RULAAC maintained that disproving a viral video does not amount to reform and that police mistrust cannot be repaired through press statements alone. “If the Imo State Police Command wants the public to stop believing the worst about Tiger Base, the solution is simple: stop giving the public reasons to believe the worst,” Nwanguma said.
He insisted that accountability through transparent investigation and prosecution of officers implicated in torture, extortion or unlawful detention is the only path to rebuilding public confidence. “Imo people want security, but not at the cost of their rights, dignity, or lives. Security achieved through brutality is not peace; it is oppression,” he said.
