OWERRI, NIGERIA (NPA), March 4, 2026 — Amnesty International has accused the Nigerian Police of enforced disappearances involving children detained at the Tiger Base facility in Owerri, the capital of Imo State.
In its latest report, the global human rights organisation alleged that children arrested alongside their mothers by Tiger Base operatives were taken away by police officers and never returned. Amnesty stated: “These children are not simply separated but effectively disappeared — removed without any record, concealed from relatives, and never returned.”
The report, based on testimonies from survivors, described a “disturbing pattern” in which children detained with their mothers were removed without documentation, while officers refused to provide information and obstructed attempts by relatives to locate them.
“Testimonies from survivors detained at Tiger Base Owerri Imo state reveal a disturbing pattern in which children arrested alongside their mothers are taken away by police officers and never brought back.”
“Amnesty International’s findings show that these children are not simply separated but effectively disappeared — removed without any record, concealed from relatives, and never returned. The absence of documentation, officers’ refusal to provide information, and the deliberate obstruction of mothers seeking their children all point to a systematic practice that amounts to enforced disappearance.”
Amnesty concluded that the practice amounts to enforced disappearance.
Last week, Amnesty International released findings that Tiger Base — originally established to combat kidnapping and armed robbery — has instead been implicated in serious human rights violations, including unlawful killings, torture, extortion, and arbitrary detention. The organisation reported that detainees are held in “filthy, windowless cells,” subjected to beatings, and in some cases shot or forcibly disappeared.”
