“RULAAC Drags Imo Police Tiger Base To Court Over Alleged Torture, Forced Labour And Missing Children” — Seeks At Least ₦800m In Four Rights Suits

The Rule of Law and Accountability Advocacy Centre has instituted four fundamental-rights enforcement suits before the High Court of Imo State in Owerri over allegations of torture, arbitrary arrest, prolonged detention, forced labour, extortion, unlawful shooting and the disappearance of infants involving officers attached to the Anti-Kidnapping Unit of the Imo State Police Command, popularly known as Tiger Base.

The suits, filed on July 21, 2026, by RULAAC’s lead counsel, Chinedu Agu, were brought on behalf of eight applicants who are asking the court to examine alleged violations of their constitutionally guaranteed rights.

The four matters, numbered HOW/474/2026, HOW/475/2026, HOW/476/2026 and HOW/477/2026, were formally fixed for hearing before the court on Wednesday, August 5, 2026.

The respondents include the Nigeria Police Force, the Inspector-General of Police, the Police Service Commission, the Commissioner of Police in Imo State, the Commander of the Anti-Kidnapping Unit, ACP Oladimeji Odeyeyiwa, and other officers attached to the unit.

The allegations contained in the court processes have not been determined by the court, while the respondents are entitled to challenge the claims and present their defence.

In Suit No. HOW/475/2026, instituted on behalf of Onyebuchi Anyanwu, Chinenye Obi and Nkechinyere Ogu, the applicants alleged that women were arrested because of their relationships with men suspected of criminal activities and subsequently detained for extended periods.

According to the court documents, Onyebuchi was arrested in 2023 alongside her three children—Peculiar, aged five; Ihuoma, aged eight; and Onyinyechi, aged three—over allegations that her husband had links with the Indigenous People of Biafra and the Eastern Security Network.

She alleged that the children were taken away from her shortly after she arrived at the Tiger Base facility and that the police had failed to disclose their whereabouts, welfare or present custody by the time the suit was filed.

Chinenye also alleged that she was arrested alongside her son, who was one year and nine months old, but was separated from the child after arriving at the facility.

The applicants are asking the court to declare that the removal of the four children from their mothers and the alleged continuing failure to disclose their whereabouts constitute violations of the dignity and family rights of the women and their children.

They are also seeking ₦200 million in general, aggravated and exemplary damages over the alleged removal and disappearance of the children.

The applicants further alleged that the detained women were subjected to forced labour daily between 6 a.m. and 6 p.m.

The court processes alleged that they were compelled to wash officers’ clothes, carry stones and sand, undertake construction work, prepare meals for hundreds of detainees and clean or cover blood allegedly belonging to executed inmates.

The women also claimed that they were held incommunicado from late 2023 until they were formally arraigned on December 16, 2025.

The women also claimed that they were held incommunicado from late 2023 until they were formally arraigned on December 16, 2025.

Suit No. HOW/474/2026 was filed on behalf of Chinaza Ifeanyi, Munachi Ifeanyi and Chidera Onyemuwa.

Chinaza alleged that she was arrested while nursing her two-month-old baby and was separated from the infant without any explanation from the officers involved.

She further claimed that she was physically assaulted, compelled to sign statements she did not prepare, deprived of her belongings and subjected to other forms of degrading treatment.

The applicant also alleged that officers used her seized Automated Teller Machine card to withdraw ₦30,000 from her bank account without her authorisation.

She and the other applicants in the suit maintained that they were arrested because of their relationships with persons the police were seeking rather than because they had committed any offence.