A Human Story of Pain, Silence, and the Cost of State Brutality in the Biafra Region and Nigeria Beyond a Building hosting the Tiger Base ...
A Human Story of Pain, Silence, and the Cost of State Brutality in the Biafra Region and Nigeria
Beyond a Building hosting the Tiger Base Police Unit is a Symbol of Fear. For many Nigerians, especially in the southern region, the term "Tiger Base" no longer describes a police facility. They evoke fear, loss, unanswered questions, and broken families. What was officially established as a tactical centre to fight crime has, over the years, become synonymous in public memory with torture, disappearance, and death.
This is not just a story about a security formation. It is a story about sons who never returned home, mothers who still wait by the phone, fathers who sold everything to save a child, and a nation struggling with the consequences of the unchecked power of a very few brutal Police Officers.
Tiger Base is located in Owerri, Imo State. It operates under the Nigeria Police Force as an extension of the Intelligence Response Team (IRT). Its mandate was simple: track dangerous criminals, dismantle kidnapping networks, and improve internal security. But somewhere along the line, that mandate collapsed. Instead of safety, fear spread. Instead of justice, silence followed. Instead of law, brute force took control.
Across the Southeast and other parts of Nigeria, families tell similar stories.
A young man leaves home and never returns.
A phone call ends abruptly.
A checkpoint stop-and-search becomes an arrest point.
Often, no warrant is shown. No explanation is given. Families later hear through whispers, lawyers, or released detainees that their loved one was taken to Tiger Base. From that moment, uncertainty begins. Inside the Walls of Tiger Base, Stories of Pain and death spread.
Survivors who later regained freedom describe Tiger Base as a place where fear is weaponized.
They speak of:
Endless interrogations carried out with fists, cables, and rifle butts,
being suspended from ceilings or metal bars, Electric shocks applied to sensitive parts of the body, forced confessions written under extreme pain, days without food, water, or medical care.
Some say the goal was never for truth but submission. Many who entered never came out to tell their stories.
So many Disappearances That will Haunt Families till they die.
Perhaps the deepest wound left by Tiger Base is enforced disappearance.
Mothers still carry photographs of sons whose fate remains unknown.
Wives raise children alone, without death certificates or closure.
Fathers search mortuaries and detention centres year after year.
In many cases, police deny holding the detainee. Court orders demanding their production are ignored. No official explanation is given.
For these families, grief never ends because hope is never fully buried.
There are many Extrajudicial Deaths and Silent Burials in Tiger Base.
Some families later learn that their loved ones allegedly died during interrogation or were taken away and killed. Others never even receive confirmation of death. Bodies, when returned, often show signs of severe abuse. In other cases, burial happens quietly without autopsy, investigation, or accountability. Lives end without justice. Deaths are reduced to statistics or erased completely.
The Profiling of the Southeast region as people who believe in the sovereign State of Biafra becomes the first target for officers of Tiger Base. The southeast region has borne a disproportionate share of the suffering.
The Young men are usually targeted for abduction. Having certain phone content makes u a target. Wearing certain clothes exposes you to the officers, and even wearing a certain hairstyle endangers your life. Being at a social gathering at the wrong time or place, as calculated by the officers, means a crime.
To many in the South-East, Tiger Base became a symbol not just of police brutality, but of collective punishment and deep-rooted mistrust between the state and its citizens. Extortion, or Paying for your Life, is common in Tiger Base. Families recount being told quietly that payment could secure release. Some sold land. Others borrowed heavily. Some paid everything they had. In many cases, the money was taken, but the detainee was never released. For these families, poverty followed pain.
To worsen the situation is the Official Silence and Denial by the Nigeria Police Force, who have repeatedly denied systematic abuse, insisting that Tiger Base operates within the law. Yet critics argue that internal investigations lack transparency and rarely result in punishment.
The silence of accountability has allowed fear to thrive. When justice is delayed or denied, abuse becomes normal. A Nation is Paying the Price. Ironically, the alleged atrocities linked to Tiger Base have not strengthened security. Instead, they have:
• Deepened anger and resentment
• Destroyed trust in law enforcement
• Fueled cycles of violence and radicalization
• Made the state appear as a threat rather than a protector
When citizens fear those meant to protect them, the social contract collapses.
The Cry for Accountability by
Human-rights advocates continue to demand independent investigations, Prosecution of culpable officers, Compensation and rehabilitation for victims, Structural reform of police tactical units, Respect for human dignity and due process. These demands are not anti-security; they are pro-justice.
Tiger Base is more than a controversial facility; it is a painful reminder of what happens when power operates without restraint. Behind every allegation is a human being. Behind every statistic is a story. Behind every denial is a family still waiting. Nigeria cannot heal by ignoring these wounds.
Justice does not weaken a nation.
Accountability does not threaten unity.
Human dignity is not negotiable.
Until the truth is confronted and victims are acknowledged, Tiger Base will remain a scar on the nation's conscience and a warning of how easily justice can be lost when fear replaces law.
Written by
Nchawu ikedi
Edited by
Onyekachi Mboma
For States Media Team
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