Nigeria: Group Laments Incessant killings, Abductions In S’East

By Suliyat Quadri, Thesun.ng

A non-governmental and advocacy group, Salvation and Service (SnS), has condemned the widespread human rights violations and extra-judicial killing of innocent people by state and non-state actors in the South East.

Reacting to a recent report by Amnesty International that at least 1,844 people were killed between January 2021 and June 2023 in the South East, the group said life has lost its sanctity in the area.

A statement by Prince Tim Nwaro, general secretary of the group, said: “The report by Amnesty International tagged, ‘A Decade of Impunity,’ is repulsive, reprehensible and repugnant. It is unfortunate that the South East has become a killing field because of government’s failure or refusal to address the security crises in the region. In fact, the government is stoking the embers of insecurity through some of its actions or lack of it.

“As captured in ‘A Decade of Impunity,’ the South East has, over the years, witnessed blood-chilling incidents of extra-judicial killings, torture, enforced disappearances, arbitrary arrests and destruction of property carried out by armed groups, state-backed militias, vigilantes, cult gangs and security forces.

“Many residents have stopped travelling to their hometowns for fear of being killed or abducted. Some traditional events, such as weddings and funerals, are increasingly being held outside the South East because of arrest or killing by the government’s forces in the name of looking for members of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) agitating for an independent Biafra.

“Many families have witnessed trauma of gargantuan proportions. For instance, three sons of Mrs. Ukamaka Obasi, a native of Onueke in Ezza South Local Government Area of Ebonyi State, were murdered in cold blood within a space of three years, by operatives of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS), Anambra State Headquarters, Awkuzu. The operatives rendered her childless following their extra-judicial killing between 2012 and 2014. They were accused of MASSOB membership and murdered.

“On January 8, 2018, soldiers invaded Abala Umuotu village, Obingwa Local Government Area of Abia State. One of the leaders of the community, Elder Victor Ogbonna, alleged to be an IPOB member, was reportedly killed. Even his body is still with the authorities. The whereabouts of a member of the family, Mr. Uzoma Ogbonna, remain unknown since then.

“In October 2020, a couple, Mr Oko Onya and Mrs Ngozi Onya, was killed in their farm in Amuzu village, Nkpoghoro community, in Afikpo North Local Government Area of the state by suspected state actors.

“In the light of sustained military attacks, bombing of communities and the killing of defenceless civilians and youths, many communities, particularly in Anambra and Imo states, have been deserted by residents who fled and abandoned their homestead.

“We, therefore, condemn the wanton killings and destruction of property in the South East. We also urge authorities to release bodies of those killed to their families for befitting burial. Enough is enough.”