Image: SaharaReporters.
Human Rights group, the International Society for Civil Liberties and Rule of Law (Intersociety) says that 700 civilians have been killed and over 1000 persons arrested by security agents following the militarisation and clampdown on residents of the South-East region between January and December 2022.
In a statement signed by Intersociety principal officers; Emeka Umeagbalasi, Obianuju Joy Igboeli, and Chidinma Udegbunam, the group said out of
about 1100 civilian arrests, 220 persons were “abducted and disappeared without traces” by soldiers and police crack squads.
The statement read, “The deployed military and police in the East had between January and December 2022 crudely, barbarously, and atrociously killed 700 civilians and arrested 1100.
“Out of the 1100 civilian arrests, not less than 220 or 20% were abducted and disappeared without traces by soldiers and police crack squads.
“The named security agencies perpetrated the above outside the law and modern operational ethics and codes.
“Those arrested by soldiers were also found to have run the high risk of never coming back alive for eternity.
"Among the 220 victims of disappearance, between 50 and 60 are likely to have been killed in military and policing captivity.
“From various accounts recorded by Intersociety including the Obigbo Army war-grade attack of October to November 2020 in Rivers State, out of every five unarmed civilians arrested by soldiers, four-run the high risk of never returning to their families alive.
"Soldiers of the Nigerian Military had also in 12 months of 2022 burned down or destroyed no fewer than 600 defenseless civilian homes worth billions of naira and sacked over 18,000 from their ancestral homes.
“In 20 months of Oct 2020 and June 2022, over 1,400 houses were burned down or destroyed by the military, and 51,000 civilians were rendered homeless.
“The Nigerian Military, particularly the Army had never arrested or shot and killed a single Jihadist Fulani Herdsman in the Region in 2022, if not since 2016.”
There have been many recent reports of the invasion of several communities in the South East by troops of the Nigerian Army resulting in the death of residents, looting of private properties and businesses, burning of houses as well as the sacking of the communities.
On December 29, 2022, troops of the Nigerian Army invaded some communities in Okigwe in Imo State, following the abduction of a female Lieutenant, P.P Johnson by yet-to-be-identified gunmen.
Many locals were feared killed while several others sustained injuries as they ran from the Army invasion which also left the villages deserted.
A video of the invasion which trended on social media showed corpses littering the streets, and residents undergoing torture by military personnel, according to SaharaReporters.
Also in December 2022, troops of the Nigerian Army invaded the Nkalaha community in Ishielu local government of Ebonyi State forcing residents and their visitors from crisis-torn Eha-Amufu communities to flee.
Hundreds of locals displaced by armed herders' attacks on Ebor, Umujiovu, and Mgbuji communities of Eha-Amufu in the Isi-Uzo local government area of Enugu State had taken refuge at Nkalaha before the Army invasion.
As was reported by SaharaReporters, troops of the Nigerian Army, on Monday, December 12, 2022, launched a similar invasion on Obeagu, another community in Ishielu local government area of Ebonyi State where they arrested 10 residents including commercial motorcyclists and community vigilante members.
Reacting to the military invasion of Ihube, Aku, and Umulolo communities in Okigwe Local Government Area of Imo State, the Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB in a statement by its Media and Publicity Secretary, Comrade Emma Powerful condemned the killing of the villagers and burning of their properties.
IPOB said: "The soldiers killed and maimed the innocent villagers in the disguise of looking for ESN. In reality, ESN doesn't have camps in the Okigwe area, and nor do we support criminals terrorizing the communities.
"It is unprofessional for Nigeria's military to invade and destroy peaceful communities with their military, armored tankers in search of political hoodlums' camps.
"What is the crime of innocent communities that warranted the deployment of heavy military hardware to destroy many lives and properties?
The pro-self-determination group appealed for the intervention of the international community to bring peace to the communities: "We call on International Community and Foreign Diplomats in Nigeria to prevail upon the Nigeria military to stop their barbarism in Biafra communities, especially in those in Imo state," IPOB said.
Human Rights. Politics and Opinion.
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