Our Reporter, Abuja
Human rights activist and convener of the RevolutionNow Movement, Omoyele Sowore, on Monday declared “war on police impunity” as he unveiled a new investigative report accusing a special police unit in Imo State of systematic torture, extrajudicial killings and the deaths of at least 200 detainees in custody.
Sowore spoke at the public launch of the report, titled “The Tiger Base Files: Systematic Torture, Extrajudicial Killings, and the Collapse of Police Accountability in Imo State,” held at Social Action, Wuse 2, Abuja. He said the findings exposed not just routine police abuse, but what he described as an organised system of violence operating with total disregard for human life and the rule of law.
“This is not just another report about police brutality,” Sowore said.
“We are declaring war on impunity. What is happening at Tiger Base is industrial-scale torture and murder.”
According to the report, at least 200 people died in custody at the Anti-Kidnapping Unit of the Imo State Police Command, popularly known as Tiger Base, between January 2022 and November 2025. Sowore said survivors and former detainees recounted nightly executions of between three and 20 people, with bodies allegedly disposed of without notification to families.
He alleged that detainees were subjected to systematic torture in specially designed interrogation rooms, including crucifixion-style hanging that left some victims permanently disabled. The report also documented testimonies of women who lost pregnancies after alleged assaults by police officers, as well as accounts of rape and sexual exploitation.
Sowore said investigators found evidence that families of detainees were extorted, court orders were routinely ignored, and even interventions by the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) failed to prevent deaths in custody.
In a departure from previous documentation of police abuses, Sowore said the Tiger Base Files identified both victims and alleged perpetrators, outlining the chain of command and demanding criminal prosecution. He accused ACP Oladimeji Adeyeyiwa, who allegedly commanded the unit during the period under review, of presiding over widespread abuses, despite being promoted to Assistant Commissioner of Police and honoured with a “Best Crime Buster” award in 2025.
“This is the kind of impunity we are confronting,” he said.
“While families were mourning and searching for their loved ones, officers were being rewarded.”
Highlighting specific cases, Sowore cited the death of Magnus Ejiogu, who was arrested in Owerri in September 2025. Despite documented intervention by the NHRC and reported approval by the Inspector-General of Police for his case to be transferred to Abuja, Ejiogu died in custody on October 27, 2025. Police reportedly claimed he died of sudden illness.
Sowore argued that the incident demonstrated a total breakdown of police command and accountability, noting that no officer had been suspended or investigated over the death.
He said Tiger Base represented a broader national pattern of police impunity that has persisted despite the 2020 #EndSARS protests and repeated promises of reform.
To confront the alleged abuses, Sowore announced the launch of the #TigerBaseMustFall campaign, which he described as a sustained effort to force accountability. The campaign’s demands include the immediate suspension of officers implicated in the report, independent autopsies for detainees who died in custody, prosecution of those responsible for torture and killings, the shutdown of Tiger Base, structural reforms within the police, and reparations for victims and their families.
He called on the media, civil society groups, international partners and young Nigerians to maintain pressure on the authorities, warning against delays that could allow accountability to be buried by time.
“This is not a time for patience,” Sowore said.
“More than 200 people are dead. Justice delayed is justice denied. Tiger Base must fall.”
The Nigeria Police Force and the Imo State Police Command had not responded to the allegations at the time of filing this report.
