Amnesty International Raises Alarm Over Threats to Rights Defenders Exposing Atrocities at Owerri’s Tiger Base

Abuja, Nigeria – December 23, 2025

Amnesty International has issued a grave warning over escalating threats to the safety and liberty of two prominent human rights advocates in Nigeria, following their efforts to expose alleged atrocities at the notorious Tiger Base police detention facility in Owerri, Imo State.

In a strongly worded statement circulated on social media, the global human rights organisation expressed deep concern for Okechukwu Nwanguma, Executive Director of the Rule of Law and Accountability Advocacy Centre (RULAAC), who has reportedly been receiving threats linked directly to his work documenting and speaking out against allegations of human rights abuses at the Tiger Base facility.

According to Amnesty International, the threats are not isolated. Nonso Nkwa, an Owerri-based independent radio broadcaster and activist, is also said to be facing similar intimidation for his investigative reporting and advocacy exposing what the organisation described as “shocking human rights violations” at the same detention centre.

“The safety and security of Okechukwu Nwanguma and Nonso Nkwa is now at risk,” Amnesty International stated, describing both men as “brave human rights defenders fighting for justice and accountability.”

The organisation condemned the threats unequivocally, stressing that targeting individuals for exposing injustice is “unacceptable” and poses a serious danger to civic space and the rule of law.

Tiger Base, long associated with allegations of torture, unlawful detention, organ harvesting and other crimes, has remained a flashpoint in Nigeria’s human rights discourse.

Reports from multiple independent investigations and victim testimonies paint a chilling picture of inhumanity at the Tiger Base police detention centre in Owerri.

detainees have described being severely beaten, suspended by their limbs for prolonged periods, starved, denied medical care, and held for weeks or months without charge or access to lawyers or family.

At least two hundred people are reported to have died or disappeared in custody, with cases of torture to death, secret executions, organ harvesting, and extortion of families for large ransoms, all under conditions that victims and civil society groups say amount to cruel, degrading, and often lethal treatment rather than lawful police detention.

Activists and civil society organisations have repeatedly called for transparent investigations into the facility’s operations, as well as accountability for security personnel implicated in abuses.

Amnesty’s intervention underscores renewed international scrutiny over conditions at the detention centre and the risks faced by those who challenge impunity.

The organisation warned that the threats against Nwanguma and Nkwa fit into a broader and deeply troubling pattern.

“This dangerous pattern of harassment and intimidation must be investigated,” Amnesty International said, noting that human rights defenders, whistleblowers, and journalists across the country continue to face threats, harassment, and, in some cases, detention for speaking out against rights violations, systemic corruption, or for publishing dissenting views.

Amnesty International called on Nigerian authorities to take immediate and concrete steps to guarantee the protection of both men, to investigate the threats against them, and to ensure that those responsible are brought to justice.

The organisation also reiterated its longstanding demand for accountability for abuses allegedly committed at Tiger Base, stressing that silencing critics only deepens mistrust and perpetuates cycles of abuse.