The report, which noted that the abductees were traced to different, secret Nigerian Army dungeons in Niger State (Jebba, Zungeru, Suleja, Bida, Kontangora), Abuja (FCT), Nasarawa, Kaduna, called for the prosecution of former Rivers State governor, Nyesom Wike, former Chief of Army Staff, Lt Gen Tukur Buratai (retd.) and other alleged collaborators for the crime.
No fewer than 152 residents of Obigbo in Rivers State who were raided by the Nigerian Army in late October 2020 are still languishing in secret military detention, a report by two international civic groups has revealed.
The report, which noted that the abductees were traced to different, secret Nigerian Army dungeons in Niger State (Jebba, Zungeru, Suleja, Bida, Kontangora), Abuja (FCT), Nasarawa, Kaduna, called for the prosecution of former Rivers State governor, Nyesom Wike, former Chief of Army Staff, Lt Gen Tukur Buratai (retd.) and other alleged collaborators for the crime.
The report, titled “Inside Wike’s Bloody Era In (Obigbo) Rivers State And Unspeakable Account Of The Nigerian Army War-Grade Invasion, Crackdown And Deadly Use Of Force” was done by the International Society for Civil Liberties and Rule of Law (Intersociety) and the Ekwenche Research Institute and Organization in Chicago, United States – a copy of which was sent to SaharaReporters on Monday.
According to the Intersociety report, “The Nigerian Army massacre and abductions in Obigbo lasted for 20 days from Oct 21 to Nov 10, 2020 while placement of the area under siege lasted from October 21, 2020 to December 2021. Shockingly, till date, not even a single perpetrator or aider and abettor including former Gov Nyesom Wike and 12 other key perpetrators (all retired and serving senior Army officers) has been fished out and put on trial either locally or internationally.
“The Nigerian Army massacre in Obigbo, Rivers State, a densely Igbo populated area occurred as a result of the ENDSARS protests across Nigeria in October 2020 and crude and deadly crackdown measures adopted by the Nigeria’s security forces. The ENDSARS protests were organised by aggrieved citizens against atrocious conducts of the dreaded Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) of the Nigeria Police Force; swiftly renamed “SWAT” and restored as “SARS” since 2022. In the killings and property destructions that followed, estimated number of deaths was put at no fewer than 400 defenseless citizens and scores of police personnel and soldiers across the country during which properties worth billions of naira were burned down or wantonly destroyed.
“In Rivers State, South-South Nigeria, Governor Nyesom Wike (as he then was) took the protests personal and turned same into a political weapon and settlement of scores with leadership of IPOB. He not only incited security agencies including Police and Army against Igbo residents in Obigbo and environs but also politicised the mob killing of some security personnel during the ENDSARS protests in Rivers State as “terrorist acts perpetrated by IPOB”.
“This was even when dozens of defenceless citizens were also shot at close range and killed during the protests by soldiers and police personnel in the state and the rest of the country where not less than 400 unarmed citizens and dozens of security personnel including soldiers and police personnel also lost their lives.
“In addition to the politicisation of the Obigbo EndSARS protests, Governor Nyesom Wike (as he then was) on October 21, 2020 declared a curfew in Obigbo and environs and invited Nigerian Army to “flush out IPOB terrorists in the area who killed six soldiers and four police personnel and burned police stations.”
The report noted that the Nigerian Army then under former Chief of Army Staff, Lt Gen Tukur Yusuf Buratai (retd.) went on “unspeakable execution of ethnic and religious cleansing by unleashing war-grade invasion and massacre targeting defenceless residents of Obigbo and environs.”
“In the end, no fewer than 130 defenceless residents were killed, 150 deadly injured and 540 men and 80 women of productive age-brackets abducted. Dozens (about 40) of the 80 abducted Obigbo women were also alleged to have been sexually abused in military captivity.
“The most shocking was the fact that no fewer than 152 of the 620 abducted Obigbo residents are still missing in the hands of soldiers of the Nigerian Army since late October 2020.
“We have also observed that the immediate past government of Nigeria under Retired Major General Muhammad Buhari and current central government headed by Bola Tinubu have continuously rewarded key perpetrators of heinous crimes and atrocities including those frontally involved in the Obigbo Army massacre and abductions who have been rewarded with key government appointments including top military and security promotions and postings; or as key government cabinet ministers. A clear case in point was the recent appointment of former Governor Nyesom Wike of Rivers State; a leading perpetrator in the Obigbo army massacre and abductions as “a Minister of the Federal Republic of Nigeria in charge of the Federal Capital Territory.”
“It is our strong recommendation and firm stand that former Gov Nyesom Wike in particular should be sacked as ‘a Minister of the Federal Republic of Nigeria in charge of the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja’ and he, alongside 12 other key perpetrators declared unfit to occupy any elective or appointive public office locally and internationally for their roles in the Obigbo army massacre and abductions.
“The 13 key perpetrators and others at large should be placed on permanent international visa bans or restrictions by compliant western world and other lawful countries.
“The victims’ families are also encouraged to file torrents of civil claimant suits against the former Rivers State Governor and 12 other key perpetrators. The countries of EU, UK, Canada, Brazil, Israel, USA and others are called upon to take special diplomatic note for purpose of internationally blacklisting and isolating the key perpetrators generally mentioned or listed in the report.”