People around Owerri are still talking about what happened recently at Tiger Base, but not in the way the police might expect. That day, som...
People around Owerri are still talking about what happened recently at Tiger Base, but not in the way the police might expect. That day, some journalists were brought in, many of us only heard about it later from neighbors, from roadside discussions, from people who know people inside the system. The story that went around was simple: “They said the place is calm. They said there are not many people inside again. They said nothing bad is happening there again.”
But almost immediately after, things started to change. Families began hearing that detainees were being moved out in large numbers. Court papers started flying around. Before anyone could even understand what was going on, buses were already heading to Owerri Prison with people who, until then, no one had admitted were being held. That alone raised eyebrows. If the place was as quiet and empty as claimed, why the sudden movement? Why the urgency?
What hurts people the most is not even the transfer. It is the gaps. Some names appeared on prison lists. Others did not. Mothers who had been hoping to locate their sons finally were told, “His name is not here.” Wives went home crying. Fathers kept walking from office to office. Up till now, there are people who were arrested months back whose whereabouts remain unknown. No call. Nobody found. No explanation.
Those running Tiger Base know the truth. Henry Okoye and co. These are not strangers to the community. They cannot pretend they do not know what happened to the men picked up from roadsides, markets, and checkpoints across Imo State. People do not just disappear.
Beyond the missing persons, there are darker whispers that refuse to die down. Stories of people who went in healthy and never came out. Stories of secret night roll calls to the grave. Stories of bodies that families were warned not to ask too many questions about. And now, disturbing allegations that some of these crimes were committed with the protection of those meant to uphold the law.
Names keep coming up. Morrocco. Chinedu, known by many as “I Love My Wife.” People are asking simple questions: Where are they? Are they alive? Why has nobody seen them publicly if nothing wrong happened? This is not gossip anymore. It is a wound that keeps reopening in the community.
You can bring cameras once. You can clean one corridor. You can rehearse one story. But you cannot erase the pain of families who are still counting days without answers.
All people are asking for is honesty.
Tell us who was arrested.
Tell us who was transferred.
Tell us who died.
Show us the ones still alive.
Imo people are tired of half-truths. And this time, they are not whispering.
Written by
Nwaugwu E
Edited by Chidi Ibe
For States Media
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