The Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), through its Directorate of State (DOS), has revealed that over 350 Igbos are being held incommunicado in 27 secret detention centres across Nigeria. In a statement issued on Thursday by IPOB’s Media and Publicity Secretary, Emma Powerful, the group disclosed that many of the detainees were arrested during the 2020 #EndSARS protests and have since faced gross human rights abuses, including torture and organ trafficking.
According to IPOB, Igbos have been unfairly targeted and detained, often accused of being members of IPOB or the Eastern Security Network (ESN), or falsely labeled as kidnappers by the Nigerian Police, Department of State Services (DSS), and the Nigerian Army. Emma Powerful stated, “The Igbos are the largest ethnic group being profiled and detained across illegal detention centers in Nigeria simply because of their ethnicity.” He added that people from other ethnic groups are also being held alongside the Igbos in these facilities.
IPOB listed the detention centres where these individuals are being held, including: Wawa Military Base; Kanji Dam detention centre; Niger State barracks and prison; DSS headquarters, Abuja; Intelligence Response Team (IRT) Abattoir, Abuja; Tiger base Police detention in Owerri, Imo State; Goodluck Jonathan Army barracks in Ohafia, Abia State; and Zone 9 detention center in Umuahia, Abia State.
Other facilities mentioned are: Zone 13 Ukpo, Anambra State; Onitsha Army Barracks, Anambra State; Navy Base Ogbaru, Anambra State; SARS Awkuzu Ukpo, Anambra State; 82 Division Enugu Military Barracks, Enugu State; Obinze Army Barracks in Owerri, Imo State; Central Police Station headquarters in Umuahia, Abia State; State CID headquarters in Awka, Anambra State; and Naval Base in Asaba, Delta State.
Additionally, IPOB named other locations where detainees are held, including: Enugu Maximum Prison; Port Harcourt Maximum Prison; Aba Prison in Abia State; Abakaliki Prisons in Ebonyi State; Uyo Prisons in Akwa Ibom; Owerri Prison in Imo State; Kuje Prison, Abuja; Keffi Prison, Abuja; Suleja Prison, Niger State; and the Nigeria Military Intelligence detention facility, Abuja.
Emma Powerful further stated that some IPOB members who were abducted during a peaceful rally in support of President Donald Trump’s inauguration in 2016 in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, remain missing after more than eight years. “We are still searching for those men and women,” he said.
IPOB urged Nigerians with missing relatives to check these detention centres to ascertain if their loved ones are still alive. The group also called on human rights organizations, including Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, Intersociety, and the United Nations Human Rights Council, to investigate the plight of these detainees. IPOB demands that the Nigerian government and its security agencies release the innocent civilians who have been subjected to prolonged illegal detention, which it describes as a form of torture and a gross violation of human rights.
“The Nigerian government is notorious for violating human rights, and it is time for the world to hold them accountable,” IPOB concluded.
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