On the 24th of December, Christmas Eve, homes were preparing for Christmas. Meanwhile, the Tiger Base Police Unit transformed the streets in...
On the 24th of December, Christmas Eve, homes were preparing for Christmas. Meanwhile, the Tiger Base Police Unit transformed the streets into a hunting ground. Their vans moved quietly through the neighbourhood at first, but then became bolder. Young men, old men, and people were dragged from their houses in their nightclothes, while others were taken from the roadside. There were no warrants and no explanations, just shouting, rough hands, and the roar of engines speeding away.
This is not new to this season. Many here say this is how it always happens during festivities when people are distracted, when families are together, when resistance is low. The timing is calculated. Fear travels faster at night. Those taken were quickly labelled. "Unknown gunmen," "Criminal," and "Suspect." Words thrown like stones, before questions are asked, before truth has a chance to breathe.
Inside Tiger Base, people imagine what followed, because the pattern is already known in too many homes. Beatings meant to break the body. Torture meant to break the mind. Long hours without water. Without food. Without knowing whether morning will come. Phones were seized. Names were written down. Some detainees were forced to call their families—not to say they were alive, but to say money was needed. Urgently. Quietly. With warnings not to talk to anyone. Last night, some families sold what they could before dawn. Some borrowed. Some begged. Some failed.
On Christmas Day proper, Church bells rang, Children dressed up, Food was shared, and Songs were sung. But inside Tiger Base, those whose families could not raise the demanded money are still there. While others celebrate, they sit or lie on cold floors. Some injured. Some were swollen from beatings. Some are barely conscious. Some are already changing forever, bones broken, minds shaken, bodies deformed. Christmas passed them by behind iron doors.
What hurts people most is not just the pain, but the cruelty of the timing. That on a day meant for mercy, forgiveness, and life, fellow human beings are being pushed closer to death. That while prayers rise outside, screams may still be trapped inside. People here are tired of pretending this is policing. This is not security. This is not justice. This is not the law.
It is fear turned into a system.
It is punishment without trial. It is ransom disguised as investigation. It is torture hidden behind a uniform.
The solution is no longer complicated, and it is no longer negotiable.
Tiger Base must be shut down immediately.
Every detainee must be accounted for by name, by condition, by location. Those held without charge must be released. Those injured must receive medical care. Families must be allowed access. An independent investigation must take over, not the same hands accused of abuse. Officers involved in torture, extortion, and illegal detention must be removed and prosecuted.
Nigeria cannot keep celebrating holidays while places like this operate unchecked. Imo State cannot move forward while fear camps in its capital. And Christmas cannot mean anything if people are being destroyed in its shadow. For many families, last year's Christmas was not joyful. It came with waiting. With praying. With fear. And with one simple cry rising quietly from many homes: Bring our people back alive.
Written by
Nwaimo O
Edited by
Chidi Ibe
For States Media Team
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