Ask for directions to Tiger Base in Owerri, and people hesitate. Not because it is hidden. Not because it is secret. But because acknowledg...
Ask for directions to Tiger Base in Owerri, and people hesitate. Not because it is hidden. Not because it is secret. But because acknowledging it openly is seen as risky. Taxi drivers lower their voices. Market traders change the subject. Families warn one another not to ask questions. Officially, Tiger Base is a police unit. In practice, many residents describe it as a place where accountability disappears.
One recurring concern raised by lawyers and families is not only how people are arrested but also how long they remain detained.
According to multiple accounts, People are taken in for "questioning". No formal charge follows. Court appearances are delayed or never scheduled, and detention quietly stretches from days into months. Families say the absence of paperwork is deliberate. Without records, there is nothing to challenge in court. This quiet erosion of due process has turned detention into punishment long before guilt is ever established.
Beyond physical harm, the Tiger Base allegations reveal another form of damage rarely discussed: economic destruction. Breadwinners disappear, School fees go unpaid, Businesses collapse, and Children are withdrawn from school. Several families say they sold land, vehicles, or livestock after being told informally that money might “help the situation.” Even when detainees are later released, families say the damage remains permanent.
Journalists investigating Tiger Base allegations often encounter the same obstacle: silence from the police. But another group keeps quietly appearing in these stories: health workers. Civil society organisations say hospital staff and mortuary attendants have, over time, noticed a pattern: Bodies arriving from police custody have injuries, inconsistent with official explanations. Pressure for quick release and burial without accompanying case files. These observations are rarely recorded publicly, but they persist in private testimonies.
In many countries, survivors become witnesses. In Imo State, survival often means disappearing from public view.
Former detainees say they were warned:
Not to speak to journalists,
Not to return to court,
Not to mention names,
Some allege they were threatened with re-arrest.
Fear, not lack of evidence, explains why many cases remain undocumented.
Another concern repeatedly raised is oversight, or the lack of it.
Tiger Base operates within the Police structure, but:
Independent civilian monitoring is absent.
Judicial access is limited.
Internal reviews are opaque.
Findings are rarely published.
This creates a closed system in which allegations circulate but accountability never enters.
What troubles observers most is not just abuse but how long it has continued. Allegations linked to Tiger Base span several years. Different commissioners. Different state administrations. Same complaints. When abuses persist across leadership changes, analysts say the issue is no longer individual misconduct but institutional tolerance.
This story extends beyond Nigeria; it raises universal questions. What occurs when crime control becomes lawless? How do democracies respond when police units evade oversight? At what point does "security cooperation" turn into complicity? Despite Nigeria receiving international security support, victims report seeing little investment in accountability. Investigative journalists and editorial boards should advocate for the following measures:
- Independent access to detainees and records
- Public disclosure of detention statistics
- Judicial review of long-term detentions
- Protection for whistleblowers and witnesses
- Accountability for senior command levels
Without proper scrutiny, the cycle of abuse and impunity will continue.
Tiger Base is not feared because it fights crime. It is feared because people say the law stops at its gates. Whether those claims withstand full judicial testing or not, one fact is undeniable: too many families are asking the same questions and receiving no answers.
That alone makes this a story the world should not ignore.
Written by
Edited by
Onyekachi Mboma
For Biafra States Media Team
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