A group of 27 international experts and advocates has backed two comprehensive reports released by the International Society for Civil Liberties and Rule of Law (Intersociety) detailing widespread atrocities in Eastern Nigeria.
The reports, unveiled on 22 December 2024 in Enugu, highlight a “warzone situation” in the South-East between August 2015 and December 2024.
The reports, titled “Ocean of Innocent Blood Flowing in Eastern Nigeria” (282 pages) and “Human Rights Made in Nigeria” (154 pages), accuse state and non-state actors of widespread human rights violations.
These include the unlawful killing of 32,300 citizens, the abduction of 65,000 individuals, the forced displacement of over 1 million residents, and the destruction of 6,000 homes worth over ₦450 billion.
The reports further claim that armed non-state actors, allegedly aided by compromised security forces, extorted over ₦500 billion in ransoms and proliferated 2.7 million small arms in the region.
The coalition of experts includes academics, human rights advocates, and faith leaders from across the globe.
Among them are Prof. Justin Akujieze, Fr Ignatius Nwankwocha, and Dr Kanayo Odeluga. They have called on the United Nations and the International Criminal Court (ICC) to investigate and hold perpetrators accountable.
“We urge the incoming Trump administration to adopt these reports as working documents for assessing Nigeria’s human rights record and guiding future U.S. development partnerships with Nigeria,” they stated.
The reports also highlight grave accusations of ethnic profiling, extrajudicial killings, mass detentions, and other violations under the pretext of combating “IPOB/ESN/Biafra terrorism.”
According to Intersociety, 14 out of every 15 individuals accused of terrorism in the region are likely innocent, with many detained indefinitely without trial or killed extrajudicially.
Intersociety presented 76 recommendations, including digitalising law enforcement, preventing the misuse of international aid, and addressing endemic corruption in Nigeria’s security sector.
The coalition has urged Nigeria’s international development partners, including the US, UK, EU, and Canada, to ensure that development aid is not used as “instruments of violence” against civilians in Eastern Nigeria.
