JULIANA FRANCIS, in this part of the story, brings in further evidence to show human rights abuses by Tiger Base Police personnel and shares how the Commander indicted the Unit in extrajudicial killing via his response to a Freedom Of Information (FOI) Request.
10/10/23, 1:35 PM – Activist: Oga good afternoon. Pls all these things I read about your command is it true?
10/10/23, 1:43 PM – OC Anti Kidnapping Imo SP Ola: Thank you brother this Rullac (sic) is working for politicians whenever election is coming the {sic} will result into many blackmailing they went and doctrines {sic} this information and they use it to blackmailing my office but thank God the man denounced it. I will forward the video the man use to debunk the rumors thanks for concern sir
10/10/23, 1:43 PM – Activist: ok,
10/10/23, 1:44 PM – OC Anti Kidnapping Imo SP Ola:
10/10/23, 1:44 PM – Activist: Remember I have had meetings with you in your office with Bar Ironali sometime ago.
10/10/23, 1:45 PM – OC Anti Kidnapping Imo SP Ola: Yes I have your number Mr maxwell
10/10/23, 1:45 PM – Activist: I have also known RULAAC for more than 6yrs.
10/10/23, 1:46 PM – OC Anti Kidnapping Imo SP Ola: But I told him that anytime he hears something about me he should call me to verify the story
10/10/23, 1:46 PM – Activist: There is something I will like you to do, with the permission of the CP. Pls reach out to RULAAC and invite other media group. Give them a tour of your facility. If you want to succeed in the face of all this rumours, invite them and collaborate with the Owerri office of National Human Rights Commission. Give them a media tour of your Tiger Base. There may be somethings your men are not telling. This work, good or bad, somebody must do it. But remember, this era of internet, it does not forget.
10/10/23, 1:50 PM – OC Anti Kidnapping Imo SP Ola: Thank you God bless you, Ok I know
10/10/23, 1:50 PM – Activist: Imo is going through serious security challenge, And somebody must do the work. But let it appear before the world that at a time, you called for a facility tour to the media to dispel all the rumours
10/10/23, 1:52 PM – OC Anti Kidnapping Imo SP Ola: Yeah but some people turn it to politics
10/10/23, 1:52 PM – Activist: Sir, I don’t believe RULAAC is one of those used by politician. I doubt it till tomorrow.
10/10/23, 1:53 PM – OC Anti Kidnapping Imo SP Ola: Am in good page {sic} Human rights Owerri NBA Owerri they’re in my office last time when rullac alleged me
10/10/23, 1:53 PM – Activist: You know we have had an encounter, and I remember visiting your command.
10/10/23, 2:03 PM – OC Anti Kidnapping Imo SP Ola: Yes since then I have your contact
10/10/23, 2:06 PM – OC Anti Kidnapping Imo SP Ola: God know everyone knows how Owerri was before I came and how it’s now although I didn’t say my boys are innocent, but we’re trying our best, the allegations against me and my boys by Rullac went to IGP office they call on us but they later found out the truth
10/10/23, 2:08 PM – OC Anti Kidnapping Imo SP Ola: Am a friend to anyone so why Rullac we stay somewhere {sic} and blackmailing me
10/10/23, 2:13 PM – Activist: In public service, when people allege you, you clear your office for record purposes. I am not speaker for RULAAC, but they have integrity in the public eye. I know Okechukwu very well and have partnered with him from when CP Ezike was in Imo. I can tell you for free, most of the allegations he makes, there are complainants behind it
10/10/23, 2:15 PM – OC Anti Kidnapping Imo SP Ola: I know but help me talk to him he have my number my number if there’s complain against my office and found out about it before anything
10/10/23, 2:16 PM – Activist: However, to balance my inquiry, I won’t go to media without verifying from the person whom they have alleged. I might not even have to go to media, if I resolve my case. Therefore, pls do internal auditing of your command, that place appears like a torture ground.
10/10/23, 2:18 PM – OC Anti Kidnapping Imo SP Ola: God bless you there’s no way we’re doing this work there will be no mistakes we’re not perfect, but he should give chance to hear from us.
10/10/23, 2:24 PM – OC Anti Kidnapping Imo SP Ola: It’s a lie come to my office anytime NBA Owerri come to my office because of this allegations they found out is a lie, madam your colleague who is In charge of human rights here in Owerri knows me in my office. I don’t condone bad things please when you come around let me know.
CONVERSATION HELD ON 13TH OF OCTOBER 2023
10/13/23, 9:11 AM – Activist: Good morning SP Ola. This story is from New Telegraph Newspaper and you know that such stories breaks the heart. Now investigate this story and let’s see if the person is innocent, you will let him go free.
10/13/23, 9:43 AM – OC Anti Kidnapping Imo SP Ola: Good morning brother God will always guide and bless you tell them to come and see me the family together with the journalist I think if they later found out what happened someone would put to shame
10/13/23, 9:43 AM – OC Anti Kidnapping Imo SP Ola: His in our custody please
10/13/23, 10:14 AM – Activist: Ok. Let me revert to the source of the case
CONVERSATION HELD ON 29TH OF DECEMBER 2023
12/29/23, 2:10 PM – Activist: Good afternoon Senior man, Compliment of the season. Pls I want to speak with you
12/29/23, 2:20 PM – Activist: Name of the detained person: Chijioke Aguoha, 070…
Matter: Land transaction, a buyer(alleged violator) requested a refund because of an issue that came up on the land. The next thing she did was to take police and got him arrested, and 200k was demanded for bail..I getting to the police with the 200k, the police said they’re not taking that amount.
12/29/23, 2:20 PM – Activist: 👆🏼 this is the message I got from them. Pls kindly see to the resolution of this matter.
12/29/23, 2:53 PM – Activist: Pls Sir, confirm if the Complainant is around now
12/29/23, 2:53 PM – Activist: Mr Maxwell is coming to meet you in your office now
12/29/23, 3:08 PM – Activist: Maxwell said there are lots of people waiting to see you. Sir, pls send for him so that you can give the suspect bail and maybe schedule for a meeting with the Complainant on Wednesday. This is my suggestion since it is not a serious criminal case.
12/29/23, 3:23 PM – Activist: Oga, your officer Madam Ali is preventing Maxwell from meeting you.
12/29/23, 3:24 PM – Activist: Please kindly take action because whatever happens at the command is directly your responsibility. I can also confirm that the Woman Complainant is also in your command. Pls kindly ensure the right thing is done.
12/29/23, 6:00 PM – Activist: OC, Your men are at it again. Pls for the sake that I intervened in this matter, is it not enough for your officers to treat this case without forcing Chojioke to give them 200k? Pls SP Ola, I appeal to you to reign on your officers not to collect money from Chojioke. I don’t know how the whole thing will turn out to be if you allow this extortion to go on under your command
12/29/23, 6:12 PM – Activist: I have called you and sent you SMS on this subject matter. I know it is possible for them to harass Chojioke to deny giving them money. This is one issue too many. I have had cause to intervene in some matters here and I still found out that the victims were meant to part with money
12/29/23, 6:13 PM – Activist: I am appealing to you to tell the officers to refund him if they have taken anything from him. OC, I will not let this act of extortion by your men go free. I have tried to appeal to your conscience on this subject matter.
12/29/23, 6:22 PM – Activist: I believe you are reading all my messages, both SMS and WhatsApp. I am not in the business of reporting officers. I have tried to talk to you in private before now. If you don’t reverse what the officers under your watch have done, I will conclude that you allowed it to fester
12/29/23, 6:23 PM – Activist: Chijioke’s 200k should be returned to him without hesitation. I don’t need to escalate this before you know that it will go viral if you fail to take action. SP Ola, I am begging you now in the name of whatever you fear. Return this boy’s 200k. You may not know the extent this matter will go
12/29/23, 6:29 PM – Activist: I have pleaded with you in a more humane way. I am giving you two hours to reverse this extortion that happened under your watch.
12/29/23, 6:42 PM – OC Anti Kidnapping Imo SP Ola: You’re a fool to accuse my men of what they did not do
12/29/23, 6:43 PM – OC Anti Kidnapping Imo SP Ola: Why did you refuse to pick your call when am calling you on video just to find out the truth and you declined
12/29/23, 6:46 PM – OC Anti Kidnapping Imo SP Ola: I have to call your Director to confirm from the boys if anyone collect dine from his hand
12/29/23, 6:50 PM – Activist: This is your regular trade mark, you collect and deny and coerce the giver to do video denying it. This won’t go like other ones. Thank you for addressing me as a fool.
CSP Oladimeji’s Response To FoI Request Shows Ekene Francis Elemuwa Died Three Times
This reporter on February 3 2025 sent a Freedom of Information Request (FoI) to the Imo State Commissioner of Police, CP Aboki Danjuma, demanding a confirmation of the human rights violations going on at Tiger Base. The reporter did not receive a response.
The FoI Request demanded response to 17 issues of human rights violations occurring and had occurred at Tiger Base Police (Anti-kidnapping Unit).
Another FoI Request, dated February 24, 2025, which serves as a reminder, was sent to the CP. The Imo State Police Command in a document addressed to the CP, dated February 4, 2025, signed by the Officer in charge of the Anti-kidnapping Unit (Tiger Base), CSP Oladimeji Odeyeyiwa, was sent to the reporter by the Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), Henry Okoye. CSP Oladimeji denied all the 17 allegations of human rights abuses levelled against the Unit.
His words: “The allegations against the operatives of the anti-kidnapping unit, ranging from No. 1 about the suspects being tortured to No. 17 alleging that Anti-kidnapping Unit has a shrine are all false and unverified allegations as Anti-kidnapping Unit is a discipline Tactical outfit that works in tandem with established laws.”
Furthermore, in the response, Oladimeji argued that Tiger Base Police had been visited by the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Owerri Chapter, Human Rights Organisations and many other concerned bodies to verify and ascertain the allegations of abuses, but discovered that all were “unfounded, allegations paddle to tarnish the image of the ever-ready operatives who are fighting and always willing to fight crime and criminality in Imo State.”
Reacting to the reporter’s question concerning the death of Ekene Francis Elemuwa in Tiger Base Police custody, Oladimeji said that Ekene was arrested for armed robbery, fell sick, rushed to hospital, and died. He added that his corpse was deposited at the Federal University Teaching Hospital, popularly known as FMC Owerri, for “preservation and autopsy.”
However, a close study of the signed document by Oladimeji from the beginning to end, shows that Ekene Elemuwa died three times!
The first time he died was on August 29, 2024. The second time he died was on September 1. The third time he died was on September 8, 2024.
Human Rights Advocates Demand Change Of Narrative At Tiger Base, Share More Horrific Cases
There are several human rights fighters and social critics in Imo State. Many of them said they knew what was happening at Tiger Base Police, but just like many victims/survivors this reporter reached out, they were too terrified to speak. However, some bravely spoke out against the atrocities. One of them is Chinonso Uba, popularly known as NonsoKwa, a social critic and a radio journalist.
Imo State Government Using Tiger Base As State Police — NonsoKwa
He has been arrested twice for speaking out against the government of the day and how police dehumanised suspects in custody. In one instance, he was remanded in the Correctional Centre in Owerri, Imo State.
He said that during his remand, he met a staggering number of Awaiting Trial Inmates, who were victims of Tiger Base Police. Some of these inmates shared their horrid experiences in police detention with him. This reporter met him in his Office in Owerri. He said that the stories of the inmates and eyewitnesses were chilling.
NonsoKwa narrated: “One inmate told me that a policeman at Tiger Base named Chidi Igwe, vowed to kill him. When the policeman got home, his pregnant wife, who had been having miscarriages, warned him to stop killing suspects. This young man told me that most of his cellmates had been killed. T though he took to praying, he felt his case wouldn’t be different. On the day he was expecting Igwe to come and take him out to kill him, Chidi called him out and said: ‘Thank that your God. If not for my wife, I would have killed you.’
“The wife of Chidi reportedly told him that his killing was affecting her, and she felt it was because of it, that she was having miscarriages. It was after that that the victim was taken to court and remanded in prison. He is still in prison.
“Tiger Base Police personnel are using starvation to kill suspects. For weeks, detainees will not be given food. There is the case of a former Eze, who is currently in prison. He was arrested for a crime he did not commit. He was held in Tiger Base for two years before being taken to court and is now on remand.
“He was tortured and dehumanised. The Federal Government should probe human rights violations by CSP Oladimeji, Inspector Chidiebere Nwosu, Inspector Chidi Igwe, Officer Moses, Officer Asuquo Philip, Officer Blessing, and others.
“Blessing is a woman Police. Her role in Tiger Base is to use a lighter to burn the private part of any male suspect who refuses to accept false allegations. With that kind of torture, detainees usually confess to crimes they did not commit!”
NonsoKwa stated that Tiger Base is the worst that has ever happened to Imo State as far as human rights violations are concerned. He said: “They have extrajudicially killed many youths. Go to the prison, before I left there, they had 1,365 inmates there, 244 at the time I came out were just prisoners. Those awaiting trial are about 1,100. Those that are not going to court are more than 1,000. Those going to court are just a very fragment of the inmates. When I interviewed them, a quarter came from Tiger Base Police and they looked like walking corpses.”
NonsoKwa also disclosed that there were five young men the police brought, indigenes of Ezioha in Mbaitolu, two died in Tiger Base and now three are in prison remand. The police accused the men of using machine guns to block the convoy of the Imo State Governor.
He recalled that when he was arrested, “they did not take me to Tiger Base because they knew I would reveal everything I saw. They sneaked me into a cell under the Intelligence Bureau Department. You will not even know that there is a cell there. The CP was not aware of my arrest and detention. The order for my arrest came directly from the governor of Imo State.”
NonsoKwa said that an old man, riding a motorcycle along Uguta Junction in Awo-Nmama was arrested, taken to Tiger Base Police and allegedly killed there. He said: “He was arrested because he was an enthusiast of Nnamdi Kanu. An eyewitness told me that the Police wrapped a cellophane or what people call Lyon around his face and then used cello tape to tie around his neck until he suffocated.
He further alleged: “In another case, a young man was driving a GLK SUV, white in colour, and was arrested by Tiger Base Police. He was tortured by hanging; I understand that the plan was not to kill him but to scare him into parting with some money and for him to abandon his car, but unfortunately, he died during the hanging.
“The eyewitness said that there was commotion because it was a plan that went wrong. The Police quickly wrapped his corpse and went to dump it in a pit. Tiger Base Police even has a shrine, where fetish materials for rituals are kept.
“Tiger Base Police is a place of extortion, extrajudicial killings, illegal arrest, illegal detention and whatever. I have had to intervene in one or two cases of people who were arrested and kept at Tiger Base. The worst part of it is that when Tiger Base Police arrest a suspect and kill the person, if you go there, they will tell you such a person was never there.
“For instance, there is the case of a realtor from Emekuku, in Owerri North in Imo State, who was killed by Tiger Base Police. The duo of Officer Moses and Officer Blessing were arrested by the police for his death and later they were transferred to Abuja. They were later released.
“What happened? The deceased quarrelled, a civil matter with his wife and he was arrested. The deceased was 44 years old. He died in Tiger Base three days after his arrest. It was after his relatives came twice to demand to see him in the cell that the police told them to go to the mortuary to see him.
“Investigation revealed that he was stabbed in the neck and bled to death. It was Moses and Blessing who were on duty that day. We followed up on the case, we wanted justice to be served but at the end of the day, the Nigeria Police Force ended up releasing Moses and Blessing.
“I was arrested by Tiger Base Police after I said Imo youths would no longer accept the extortion, illegal arrest and illegal detention by Tiger Base police operatives and police personnel in Imo State. When I was remanded in prison, I had to do my investigation, go around the prison, talk to survivors of Tiger Base Police who are still in the prison now. If I wasn’t in prison, I wouldn’t have had the opportunity to talk to them because the prison management would not allow me to enter the prison, let alone interview inmates.
“According to some inmates, Tiger Base police killed six casemates in a kidnapping case, leaving one, who is now in prison. It was this only survivor that narrated this to me in prison. He was in Tiger Base police detention for two years. He said that he was arrested because of a transaction he made for one of his friends, whom the police claimed was involved in kidnapping.
“This inmate came back from Dakar, Senegal to bury his mother when all these things happened. He said that Tiger Base police shot all his six casemates. Tiger Base police has metamorphosed into SARS. Most of the police operatives that were formerly in SARS Units are now in Tiger Base Police.”
NonsoKwa opines that some groups are propagating and escalating insecurity in Imo State and allegedly profiting from it. He does not think these groups have anything to do with IPOB or the Eastern Security Network (ESN), the alleged militia arm of IPOB.
He maintained: “The people that are propagating this insecurity as of 2021 to date are criminals who are parading themselves as agitators of Biafra freedom. They are not IPOB, they are not ESN. But the government, to shut down anything IPOB or ESN, started raiding Imo State youths, tagging them IPOB or ESN. Tiger Base is the only police unit in Imo State that carries out such illegal operations. We’ve had hundreds of Imo youths extrajudicially killed in Tiger Base.
“In 2020-2021, before the Tiger Base Police came in, when Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP), Abba Kyari was still operating in Imo State, I ran away from Imo State around April to May 2021 because I called out the government of the day, called out DCP Abba Kyari, that they should stop the extrajudicial killings of Imo youths.
“I went to Federal Medical Centre Owerri (FMC) here in Owerri and counted about 76 bodies of dead Imo youths, with bullet wounds. I raised the alarm; the government came after me. The Archbishop of Owerri Metropolitan, Archdiocese of Owerri, and the former Archbishop, Anthony A.J. Obinna, went to FMC to find out whether what I said was true.
“When he got there, he said that he counted about 30 dead bodies. When I raised the alarm, I told Imo State residents that if their brothers or sons were missing, they should go to FMC and identify whether their corpses were there. The government of the day in Imo State is using Tiger Base as a State Police. The policemen there are untouchable. No matter what they do, they cannot be sanctioned!”
NonsoKwa also argued that bad police personnel begin with the recruitment process. He urged the Federal Government to look into the recruitment process, emphasising: “Some recruits are former cult members and metamorphosed into police personnel we have today. They do not fear shedding blood, even if it is the blood of an innocent.”
He further called for external experts to help in training personnel of the Nigeria Police. He added: “It’s like those presently giving them training have a twisted mentality. The government needs to bring in experts from Europe to tell Nigeria Police what policing entails. Even IPOs do not understand the scope of their duties. Once a complainant has money, he or she will win a case. If a defendant has money, he or she will case.
“IPOs do not go out there to investigate cases, they do not go undercover. They only question complainants, make a conclusion and then charge the matter to court. Several inmates are languishing in prison due to the incompetence and unprofessionalism of their IPOs.”
Note: Some detainees who spoke with the reporter requested their real names should not be used to avoid being rearrested or targeted by operatives of the Tiger Base.
. This report was supported by the Rule Of Law And Accountability Advocacy Centre as part of its interventions in the insecurity ravaging the South East and its impact on human rights, the civic space and development.
To be continued.
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