The group disclosed this in a statement signed by Emeka Umeagbalasi, Board Chairman; Obianuju Joy Igboeli Esquire, Head, Civil Liberties and Rule of Law and Chidinma Udegbunam and Head, Campaign and Publicity Department.
The International Society for Civil Liberties and Rule of Law (Intersociety) has said the militarisation and clampdown on the South-East region between January and December 2022 led to the killing of 700 civilians and arrest of over 1000 suspects.
The group disclosed this in a statement signed by Emeka Umeagbalasi, Board Chairman; Obianuju Joy Igboeli Esquire, Head, Civil Liberties and Rule of Law and Chidinma Udegbunam and Head, Campaign and Publicity Department.
According to them, out of about 1100 civilian arrests, not less than 220 persons were “abducted and disappeared without traces” by soldiers and policing 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 policing 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 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.”
SaharaReporters had recently reported invasion of communities in the South East part of the country leading to killing of residents and burning houses.
On December 29, 2022, troops of the Nigerian Army invaded Okigwe in Imo State, sacking residents of the community and looting properties and small businesses.
SaharaReporters gathered that many residents who were scampering for safety sustained various degrees of injuries while many were feared dead.
The operation was over the abduction of female Lieutenant, P.P Johnson by unknown gunmen.
A trending video had showed the female officer being tortured by the gunmen after she was abducted in the community.
She was said to have travelled to Aku-Okigwe to see her grandmother for the Yuletide season.
A video of the invasion which trended on social media showed corpses littering the street, as well as residents being tortured by military personnel.
Also in December, 2022, residents of Nkalaha community in Ishielu local government of Ebonyi State fled from the community after an invasion by troops of Nigerian Army.
Nkalaha is a neighbouring community to the war-torn Ebor, Umujiovu and Mgbuji communities in Eha-Amufu Isi-Uzo local government area of Enugu State.
Some of the residents of Eha-Amufu communities over the vicious killings and destructions of their communities by armed herdsmen had gone to Nkalaha.
But the military invasion of Nkalaha community forced residents of the community and Eha-Amufu internally displaced persons (IDPs) to flee from the soldiers and the herdsmen to Enugu town and Abakaliki, the Ebonyi State capital.
On Monday, December 12, 2022, SaharaReporters reported how hundreds of troops of Nigerian Army invaded Obeagu community in same Ishielu local government area of Ebonyi State.
They had equally arrested and gone away with 10 residents of the community who were merely motorcycle riders and youths trained to defend the community after armed herdsmen invasion of the community in March 29, 2021 and October 13, 2022 that claimed 22 lives including children and women.
Meanwhile, neither the military nor the police or any other security agencies intervened while the over nine hours’ attack lasted.
Governor David Umahi of Ebonyi was forced to visit one of the gory sites 24 hours after the attacks.