The military authorities, who have been condemned for the militarisation of the region, were accused of burning down over 6000 houses and displacing at least 180,000 residents.
The Nigerian military in its continued onslaughts on the South-East states have allegedly raided no fewer than 300 Igbo communities under the guise of fishing out members of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) mmbers, a new report has revealed.
The military authorities, who have been condemned for the militarisation of the region, were accused of burning down over 6000 houses and displacing at least 180,000 residents.
The report was released on Sunday by the International Society for Civil Liberties and Rule of Law (Intersociety) and titled, "Nigeria: Ocean of Innocent blood flowing in the East" and the "Human Rights Made In Nigeria."
The new report chronicled the secret arrests and trial of South-East residents in seven states of Niger, Kogi, Nasarawa, Benue, Kaduna, Zamfara and FCT (Abuja), while alleging that other residents were dumped to die or subjected to "Kangaroo trials" inside the Wawa Army Cantonment In Niger State.
The report partly read, " The “Ocean Of Innocent Blood Flowing In The East” represents graphic, shocking and chilling account of the Nigerian military and other security forces (police crack squads, secret police, sub-state actor killer vigilantes and killer government taskforces) siege and terror (armed state actor conduct-atrocities) in the East since August 2015.
"It further captures the untold story of what is going on in the Region with regard to violent criminal activities by armed non-state actors including government-linked and non-government-linked armed non-state actors."
Relatedly, “The Human Rights Made in Nigeria” is a compilation of relevant and available local, regional and international human rights, humanitarian and universal human rights and rule of law compliant legal provisions and safeguards regulating the lawful and unlawful conducts and activities of armed citizens in Nigeria or any part thereof including armed state actors and armed non-state actors and their commanders or leaders, aiders and abettors."
“Ocean Of Innocent Blood Flowing In The East” is fundamentally targeted at exposing external and internal forces found to have been responsible for the present war-zone situation of the South-East and the South-South regions of Eastern Nigeria. The “warzone” state of public and citizens’ security and safety and their properties include grisly and egregious human rights violations and abuses: mass and targeted killings and property burnings outside the law, body lacerations, abductions, disappearances, torture and other inhuman or degrading treatments or punishments and security sector duty-post corruption particularly military, police and paramilitary roadblock and barracks extortions and other atrocities by armed non-state actors.
"Many non-state actors involved are found to have been procured and clandestinely sponsored by external state actors and their conspiratorial internal state actors both armed and unarmed including some past and present public office holders within and outside Eastern Nigeria particularly in the South-East. Intellectually and forensically Identified in the Mother Report (“Ocean Of Innocent Blood Flowing In The East”) are two sets of “egregious crimes against defenseless persons, their properties and the society”; namely: “state actor crimes or state-actor generated insecurity and other unsafe conditions” and “non-state actor crimes or non-state actor generated insecurity and other unsafe conditions”.
"The above highlighted heinous crimes are severely punishable and effectively controllable under Nigeria’s criminal, human rights and humanitarian laws or provisions and their safeguards including the Treaty Laws and Nigeria’s Regional and International Obligations.
"Tens of thousands of defenceless citizens and their properties in the East have been killed or wantonly destroyed outside the law since August 2015 and controversially labeled “gunned down IPOB/ESN terrorists/oil thieves”. The Nigerian Defense Headquarters, for instance, had on Dec 5, 2024, claimed that it “killed 666 IPOB/ESN terrorists from Jan to Dec 2024” alone.
"The “Ocean Of Innocent Blood Flowing In Eastern Nigeria” is a catalogue of how officers and personnel of the armed forces (Army, Air Force And Navy), police and the DSS used “IPOB/ESN/BIAFRA Terrorism” as a pretext to secretly massacre 22,500 unarmed civilians and openly killed 9,800 others (totalling over 32,300) between August 2015 and December 2024.
"Over 300 Igbo Communities were raided, 6000 civilian houses razed, 180,000 displaced, 1million forced to abandon their homes and flee, N450billion defenceless civilian properties lost to military burnings and destructions, N3trillion (presently about $2billion or previously about $5billion) corruptly seized and illicitly pocketed at roadblocks and other gunpoints.
"In statistical conclusion, therefore, all the above indicated that the deployed Nigerian Security Forces (Army, Air Force, Navy, Police, DSS, sub-State actor Vigilantes and Paramilitaries) in the East atrociously killed members of defenceless civilian population dominated by Igbo citizens more than twice higher than (32,300) those killed by armed criminal entities (14,500) who the security forces are deployed with public arms and funds to fish out, prosecute and stop from harming them.
"The deployed security forces and their officers and personnel and high commands were also found to have violently seized and illicitly pocketed, by way of extortion and looting, criminal monies and other properties (over N3trillion) belonging to defenseless Easterners almost six times higher than those seized and stolen by criminal entities (N550billion). The drafted security forces were further found to have burned down or destroyed civilian houses and other properties (N450billion) over seven times higher than those burned down or destroyed by criminal entities (about N60billion)."
The reports were prepared by criminologist and chairman of board of Intersociety, Emeka Umeagbalasi, and a team of lawyers; Chidinma Udegbunam, Chinwe Umeche, Obianuju Igboeli and Ndidiamaka Bernard.
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