RULAAC Files Four Suits Against Imo Police ‘Tiger Base’ Over Alleged Torture, Missing Infants, Extrajudicial Killings

The Rule of Law and Accountability Advocacy Centre (RULAAC) has filed four landmark public interest lawsuits before the High Court of Imo State in Owerri, accusing the Anti-Kidnapping Unit of the Imo State Police Command, popularly known as ‘Tiger Base,’ of torture, arbitrary arrest, forced labour, illegal extrajudicial killings, extortion, and the enforced disappearance of infants.

The four fundamental rights enforcement suits, obtained by SaharaReporters on Monday, were filed on July 21, 2026, by RULAAC’s lead counsel, Chinedu Agu, on behalf of eight victims. 

The suits name as respondents the Nigeria Police Force, the Inspector-General of Police, the Police Service Commission, the Commissioner of Police in Imo State, the Commander of the Anti-Kidnapping Unit, ACP Oladimeji Odeyeyiwa, and several operational officers attached to the unit.

The matters have been formally fixed for hearing before the court on Wednesday, August 5, 2026.

The court filings unveil a chilling, systemic pattern of human rights violations where women were allegedly arrested as proxies for their wanted male relatives, subjected to degrading forced labour, tortured in custody, and forcibly separated from their infant children whose whereabouts remain unknown years after their abduction.

In Suit No: HOW/475/2026, brought on behalf of Onyebuchi Anyanwu, Chinenye Obi, and Nkechinyere Ogu, court documents disclose that Onyebuchi Anyanwu was arrested in 2023 alongside her three young children, namely Peculiar (5), Ihuoma (8), and Onyinyechi (3), over allegations concerning her husband’s suspected links to the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) and the Eastern Security Network. 

The infants were forcibly removed from her custody shortly after arriving at Tiger Base. Similarly, applicant Chinenye Obi was arrested alongside her one-year-and-nine-month-old son, who was also ripped away from her custody. By the time these legal proceedings were initiated in late July 2026, police authorities had failed to account for or disclose the location, welfare, and custody of the four missing children.

According to the specific declarations and reliefs sought in Suit No: HOW/475/2026, the applicants are asking the court for: “A Declaration that the removal of Onyebuchi Anyanwu’s children – Peculiar Anyanwu [5 years], Ihuoma Anyanwu [8 years] and Onyinyechi Anyanwu [3 years] – and the removal of Chinenye Obi’s infant son of 1 year and 9 months, followed by the continuing failure to disclose their whereabouts, welfare and present custody, are unlawful and constitute continuing violations of the dignity and family rights of the mothers and children.”

The relief details further expose that the detained women were subjected to systematic forced labour between 6:00 a.m. and 6:00 p.m. daily. The motion details: “A Declaration that compelling the affected women to wash officers’ clothes, carry stones and sand, perform construction work, cook for hundreds of detainees and clean or cover blood of executed inmates under compulsion constituted forced labour, servitude and degrading treatment prohibited by Section 34 of the Constitution.”

The women were held incommunicado without trial from late 2023 until their formal arraignment on December 16, 2025. Consequently, the applicants are seeking: “An Order directing the Respondents jointly and severally to pay N200,000,000.00 (Two Hundred Million Naira) as general, aggravated and exemplary damages to Onyebuchi Anyanwu and Chinenye Obi for the continuing removal and disappearance of their children.”

In Suit No: HOW/474/2026, filed on behalf of Chinaza Ifeanyi, Munachi Ifeanyi, and Chidera Onyemuwa, Chinaza alleges she was arrested while nursing her two-month-old baby and separated from the infant without any explanation. 

Her affidavit details severe physical assault, forced signatures on unverified statements under duress, the destruction of personal property, and the unauthorized withdrawal of N30,000 from her bank account using her seized ATM card.

In Suit No: HOW/476/2026, filed on behalf of Ngozi Ogbonna, a female resident from Olokoro in Umuahia South Local Government Area of Abia State, the applicant details her illegal detention at the Tiger Base facility from December 12, 2024, to December 16, 2025. According to the reliefs set out in her motion: “A Declaration that striking Ngozi Ogbonna with a walking stick, machete, belt and pistol; causing a bleeding head injury; compelling her to strip naked; threatening to apply pepper to her eyes and private parts; and failing to provide proper care when she suffered internal bleeding violated Section 34 of the Constitution and Article 5 of the African Charter.”

Ogbonna is also seeking court interventions to hold the perpetrators accountable, praying for: “An Order directing the Police Service Commission to investigate the conduct of every police officer implicated in the torture, sexual humiliation, denial of medical care, forced labour and prolonged detention of Ngozi Ogbonna, and to take appropriate disciplinary steps in accordance with law,” alongside an order for “N100,000,000.00 (One Hundred Million Naira) as general, aggravated, exemplary and public-law damages.”

The fourth suit, Suit No: HOW/477/2026, brought on behalf of Kenneth Anyanwu, a trader and father of 11 children from Ihitte-Afoukwu in Ahiazu Mbaise Local Government Area, recounts a horrific extrajudicial shooting incident on April 13, 2026. 

Anyanwu alleges he was shot in the abdomen from behind by Officer Chinedu Iwueke while unarmed and attempting to walk away from a police scene, causing his intestines to protrude.

The reliefs sought in Anyanwu’s filing state: “A DECLARATION that the act of shooting Kenneth Anyanwu by Officer Chinedu Iwueke of the Anti-Kidnapping Unit popularly called Tiger Base from behind while he was unarmed and attempting to walk away from the scene, thereby causing his intestines to protrude from his abdomen, constituted an unlawful use of force and an attempted deprivation of his right to life.

“A DECLARATION that chaining Kenneth Anyanwu’s legs while he was suffering from a life-threatening injury and denying him immediate access to medical assistance amounted to torture and degrading treatment.”

Anyanwu is asking the court for an order directing the police to refund N47,000 unlawfully taken from him by Officer Iwueke during his arrest, reimbursement of all medical bills incurred, and an award of: “N500,000,000.00 (Five Hundred Million Naira) as general, aggravated, exemplary and public-law damages for the violation of the fundamental rights of Kenneth Anyanwu.”

The four public interest suits rely heavily on first-hand sworn affidavits alongside supporting documentation and published investigative reports from Amnesty International and the Coalition Against Police Tiger Base Impunity.

Commenting on the filings, the Executive Director of RULAAC, Okechukwu Nwanguma, stated that the proceedings mark a historic opportunity for Nigeria’s judicial system to confront institutionalized police impunity and enforce constitutional safeguards.

“For years, the Tiger Base Unit has featured prominently in allegations by victims, families and human rights organisations of torture, prolonged detention without trial, enforced disappearances and other serious abuses. These proceedings provide the first opportunity for many of those allegations to be rigorously examined through sworn evidence before a court of law,” Nwanguma said.

He emphasized that accountability demands independent judicial scrutiny, adding: “Justice for victims of torture and unlawful detention is indispensable to rebuilding public confidence in policing and reaffirming that no institution or public official is above the Constitution. 

“The hearing of these four cases on Wednesday, 5 August 2026, is more than a court date. It is a test of Nigeria’s commitment to justice, accountability and the rule of law.”

All four matters await formal hearing before the High Court of Imo State in Owerri on August 5, 2026.