STRAIGHT TALK BY OBIINA F NWACHUKWU
The recent decision by the Nigeria Police Force to disband the notorious “Tiger Base” in Owerri, Imo State, only to inaugurate another tactical police unit operating from the same facility, under substantially the same command structure and reportedly with many of the same operatives is unacceptable and should be jettisoned. When you sell your lion and replace it with Tiger, nothing changes.
This development raises serious questions about the sincerity of ongoing police reform efforts in Nigeria and reinforces fears that what is being presented as reform may merely be a cosmetic rebranding exercise designed to deflect public criticism without addressing the underlying culture of abuse and impunity.
Tiger Base became widely associated with allegations of torture, enforced disappearances, arbitrary detention, extortion, and extrajudicial killings. Over the years, victims, families, lawyers, journalists, and civil society organizations documented disturbing patterns of abuse linked to the operations of the unit.
The notoriety of the Tiger base unit made Amnesty International to describe Tiger Base as a base of atrocities and human rights abuse. That was based on the outcome of its investigation. The findings revealed grave human rights violations, including prolonged arbitrary detention without trial, extortion and extortion-driven investigations, excessive bail demands, enforced disappearances—including the removal of children from their mothers without records. The investigation also documented arrests stemming from civil disputes, such as landownership and family disagreements. Furthermore, it exposed the appalling conditions within Tiger Base cells—overcrowded, poorly ventilated, and unsanitary—resulting in severe health complications and, in some cases, death.
The report also documented multiple cases of torture and other ill-treatment, revealing that detainees were routinely subjected to torture and other ill-treatment while officials employed brutal methods that inflict lasting physical and psychological harm on victims, and deaths in some cases.
According to the Amnesty International, detainees held at Tiger Base were regularly subjected to hanging, brutal beatings, punching and kicking, waterboarding, prolonged stress positions, and deliberate starvation as a method of coercion. Women detainees were subjected to beatings, humiliation, forced labour, and other forms of degrading treatment. The investigation further uncovered alarming patterns of deaths in custody. Families seeking justice encounter deliberate obstruction, as officials frustrate autopsy procedures and undermine accountability mechanisms.
The investigation also reveals a persistent pattern of abuse of power by officers at Tiger Base and the consistent failure of Nigerian authorities to hold perpetrators accountable. Findings from the research reveal that cases of torture and ill-treatment are not investigated, and hardly any officers are held accountable. Amnesty International found that none of the cases documented resulted in investigation or prosecution of perpetrators.
Although the federal government criminalized torture and other ill-treatment through the Anti-Torture Act in December 2017, the persistent impunity enjoyed by Tiger Base officers for human rights violations underscores systemic deficiencies in policing practices and the absence of an effective police accountability mechanism.
Nigeria is a state party to key international treaties, including the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), the UN Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (UNCAT), and the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights. These instruments obligate Nigeria to prohibit torture in law, ensure complaints are investigated, prosecute perpetrators, and provide reparations to victims.
Ordinarily, the disbandment of such a notorious tactical outfit should have marked an opportunity for genuine institutional reform which should have included:
– Independent investigation into allegations of abuse;
– Accountability for officers implicated in violations;
– Justice and reparations for victims;
– Structural reforms and strengthened oversight;
– Human rights-centered retraining and professionalization.
Establishing another tactical formation under substantially similar conditions suggests continuity rather than reform.
We are particularly concerned that retaining personnel or leadership figures associated with serious allegations of abuse sends a dangerous message that misconduct within the policing system carries no real consequences. This undermines public trust, weakens accountability, and emboldens further violations.
The situation also raises broader concerns regarding political interference in policing. Tactical police units must never become instruments for political intimidation, repression, or the advancement of partisan interests. Professional policing requires operational independence, transparency, accountability, and strict adherence to constitutional and legal standards.
The controversy inevitably recalls the aftermath of the #EndSARS protests, when the disbandment of SARS was quickly followed by the creation of SWAT, generating widespread fears that abusive policing structures were merely being renamed rather than fundamentally transformed.
It is important to reiterate that genuine police reform cannot be achieved through changes in nomenclature alone. Meaningful reform requires accountability, transparency, civilian oversight, institutional culture change, and justice for victims.
1. Bring perpetrators of human rights violations to justice
• Reported cases of enforced disappearances, torture and ill-treatment and other violations must be the subject of independent, prompt, impartial and thorough investigations, and officers reasonably suspected of criminal responsibility must be brought to justice. This must include superior officers who knew or should have known of officials under their command resorting to the unlawful use of force and firearms, if they did not take all measures in their power to prevent, suppress or report such use.
• Complaints about the conduct of Tiger Base officers – whether they come from members of the public, from supervisors or from colleagues – must be investigated promptly, impartially and thoroughly. Those who file complaints should be confident that they will be supported and where necessary, protected against reprisals. Members of the public should have the assurance that their complaints will be taken seriously and that they will not face adverse consequences for having lodged them.
• Ensure that investigations concerning cases of human rights violations mentioned in this report are concluded, outcomes are made public and the suspected perpetrators are brought to justice.
• Families and victims of human rights violations must have access to justice, effective remedy and reparations, including adequate compensation, which should be proportional to the gravity of the violations and the harm suffered.
2. Reform codes and regulations concerning the functioning of the police to bring them in line with international standards
• Reporting procedures should be clearly outlined in the codes, with a detailed sample of the report forms to be completed after carrying out functions such as making an arrest, carrying out a search or using force or firearms. A separate form should be completed to report a serious injury or death as a result of force or firearms. A third form should be produced for reporting deaths in custody.
3. Enforce the Anti-Torture Act
• Ensure that the provisions of the Anti-Torture Act 2017 are enforced and all complaints of torture by Tiger Base officers must be the subject of independent, prompt, impartial and thorough investigation, and those reasonably suspected of criminal responsibility must be brought to justice, in line with the provisions of the Act.
• All training of law enforcement officials should fully take into account the need to respect human rights of suspects even in detention.
Finally, the people of Imo State and Nigerians generally deserve a policing system founded on professionalism, legality, accountability, and respect for human rights – not the recycling of abusive structures under new labels.