Amnesty International Reports Widespread Human Rights Violations in Southeast Nigeria

Amnesty International Reports Widespread Human Rights Violations in Southeast Nigeria
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Amnesty International has documented extensive human rights violations in Nigeria’s South-East region, reporting that at least 1,844 people were killed between January 2021 and June 2023 amid a persistent security crisis. The organization’s report, A Decade of Impunity: Attacks and Unlawful Killings in Southeast Nigeria, details unlawful killings, torture, enforced disappearances, arbitrary arrests, and displacement carried out by a range of actors, including armed gangs, state-backed paramilitary forces, vigilantes, and criminal groups, Amnesty International reported.

The report attributes the crisis in part to the government’s crackdown on pro-Biafra protests beginning in 2015, which intensified insecurity and created a climate of fear. Gunmen have carried out attacks on communities, security personnel, and public facilities, often targeting residents during social gatherings such as weddings and burials. Many areas have become “ungoverned spaces,” with local leaders displaced and residents forced to abandon homes.

Authorities have largely blamed the pro-Biafra organization IPOB and its Eastern Security Network (ESN) for attacks, though these groups deny involvement. Amnesty International noted that IPOB/ESN’s enforcement of sit-at-home orders has also contributed to human rights abuses, including beatings and killings of those defying restrictions, school closures, and economic disruption across several states.

The report also documents abuses by state-backed paramilitary units, which have been implicated in extrajudicial killings, torture, arbitrary arrests, enforced disappearances, and property destruction. Criminal cult groups operating in multiple towns have further worsened insecurity.

Amnesty International emphasized that victims have largely been denied justice and reparations, with impunity persisting for perpetrators of violence. The organization called on Nigerian authorities to uphold constitutional and international human rights obligations by investigating abuses impartially, ensuring accountability, and protecting citizens’ rights to life, liberty, and security.

The report draws on interviews with survivors, relatives of victims, civil society members, legal professionals, traditional and religious leaders, and field research conducted in several South-East cities between April and November 2023. Amnesty International has previously highlighted similar human rights concerns in the region dating back to 2015.