Nigeria: Tiger Base police unit involved in rampant violations including extrajudicial executions, torture and extortion
- Detainees routinely taken out of cell and shot dead
- Suspects tortured to make confessions
- Families of suspects that died suddenly harassed for seeking justice
- Point of Sale (POS) used to extract lucrative bribes
A Nigerian police unit set up to tackle kidnapping and armed robbery in Imo state has instead been 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, Amnesty International said today.
Based in Owerri, the capital of Imo state, the police unit known as “Tiger Base” is increasingly being used to arrest and detain people to settle scores, including land disputes and family conflicts. Amnesty International’s investigation Tiger Base of Atrocities: Human Rights Violations by Nigeria Police Anti-Kidnapping Unit in Owerri published today 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.
