By Chinedu Agu
Over the past weeks, I have openly and consistently lent my voice against the well-documented atrocities attributed to the Tigerbase Unit of the Imo State Police Command.
On 10 December 2025, I published a satire [a Poem] in Pidgin English titled “Tigerbase or Tiger Crase”, employing sharp imagery to reflect allegations of killings, torture, cruelty, and entrenched institutional lawlessness linked to the Unit. {This poem is available on my Facebook wall.}
On 15 December 2025, I was invited by the Coalition Against Police Tigerbase Impunity (CAPTI), where, alongside Omoyele Sowore, we publicly launched the report titled: “The Tigerbase File: Systematic Torture, Extra-Judicial Killings, Enforced Disappearances and the Collapse of Police Accountability in Imo State, Nigeria.”
At that event, held at Social Action, 20 Yalinga Street, Wuse 2, Abuja, I delivered a speech, “Remarks by Chinedu Agu on the Occasion of the Public Presentation of the Tigerbase Files”, [also available on my Facebook wall], which subsequently went viral.
In the days following the launch, Tigerbase has reportedly come under intense scrutiny, leading to the hurried arraignment of detainees and their remand in custodial facilities, a development that appears aimed at decongesting its cells and managing mounting public exposure.
A few days ago, I read a public alert by Chinonso Uba, the journalist popularly known as Nonso Nkwa, in which he raised similar concerns about threats to his safety arising from his investigative advocacy that exposed this same Unit.
At the time, I regarded his warning as yet another troubling illustration of the risks faced by those who challenge entrenched abuses. I did not anticipate that this pattern of intimidation would soon extend to me.
The implication is now difficult to ignore: those who have participated in exposing the rot within this system appear to be increasingly targeted [CAPTI has also captured this development in its statement released today and available also on my Facebook wall].
Yesterday, 26 December 2025, I received credible intelligence indicating that elements associated with Tigerbase are dissatisfied with my continued advocacy and have also marked me for elimination.
Ordinarily, I would have treated this as one among the numerous threats that frequently accompany civic engagements in Nigeria. However, I am compelled to take this threat seriously in light of the Unit’s documented institutional record and its entrenched contempt for the sanctity of human life.
The CAPTI report records over 200 unlawful deaths attributed to the Tigerbase Unit within the last five years. This is not conjecture. It is evidence-based, documented, and now part of the public record. When an institution with such a dangerous history is linked to an elimination scheme, silence becomes perilous.
As an Igbo proverb cautions: It is only a tree that remains standing at the threat of being cut down. I am therefore issuing this statement deliberately and publicly to place my situation on record and to draw the attention of the world.
The mother hen who cries loudly when the kite carries her chick does so for the entire neighbourhood to hear her voice. Let it be clearly noted that my life is presently at risk, and any harm that may befall me or any member of my family must be properly addressed.
I hold the Nigeria Police Force, the Imo State Government, and all relevant security authorities accountable for my safety and that of my family.
I hereby call on International human-rights organisations; foreign diplomatic missions; National Human Rights Commission [NHRC], Nigerian Bar Association Human Rights Committee; civil society organisations; press-freedom and human-rights defenders; United Nations human-rights mechanisms; Amnesty International; Human Rights Watch; Rule of Law and Accountability Advocacy Centre [RULAAC]; Spaces for Change [S4C]; Avocats Sans Frontières [ASF-FRANCE]; Civil Rights Realisation and Advancement Network [CRRAN]; International Solidarity for Peace and Human Rights Initiative [ISPHRI]; Centre for Human Rights Advocacy and Wholesome Society [CEHRAWS]; Prison Advocacy & Justice Initiative [PAJI]; Foundation for Environmental Rights Advocacy & Development FENRAD; Open Bar Initiative [OBI]; Atrocities Watch Africa; Nchekwa Ndi Ogbenye Foundation; Vision Spring Initiatives; People’s Rights Organization [PRO]; Democracy and Human Rights Network [DHRN];Vivacious Development Initiative [VIDI]; Human Rights Social Development and Environmental Foundation [HURSDEF]; Initiative for Public Safety Security and Educational Development in Nigeria [IPSSED] and all allied bodies to take urgent cognisance, sustain protective attention, and insist on accountability.
Threats do not erase evidence. Silence does not bury truth. History does not forget.
I remain steadfast in my commitment to justice, accountability, and the defence of human dignity.
