The Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) has raised alarm over the existence of alleged secret detention centres where Nigerian security forces are reportedly detaining Biafra activists incommunicado. According to the group, these facilities are sites of gross human rights abuses, including torture, organ trafficking, and forced disappearances.
In a statement issued by IPOB’s Media and Publicity Secretary, Emma Powerful, the group expressed deep concern over the treatment of innocent individuals, particularly Biafra activists, within these centres. IPOB claimed that its revelation was aimed at alerting the public to these inhumane practices and urging immediate attention to the plight of detainees.
The group listed several military and police detention facilities where they allege Biafra activists are being held without due process. These include:
Wawa Military Base, Niger State
Kanji Dam Detention Centre
DSS Headquarters, Abuja
Intelligence Response Team (IRT) Abattoir, Abuja
Tiger Base Police Detention, Owerri, Imo State
Goodluck Jonathan Army Barracks, Ohafia, Abia State
Zone 9 Umuahia, Abia State Detention Centre
Zone 13 Ukpo, Anambra State
Onitsha Army Barracks, Anambra State
Navy Base, Ogbaru, Anambra State
SARS Awkuzu, Ukpo, Anambra State
82 Division Military Barracks, Enugu State
Obinze Army Barracks, Owerri, Imo State
Central Police Station, Umuahia, Abia State
State CID Headquarters, Awka, Anambra State
Naval Base Asaba, Delta State
Enugu Maximum Prison, Enugu State
Port Harcourt Maximum Prison, Rivers State
Aba Prison, Abia State
Abakaliki Prisons, Ebonyi State
Uyo Prisons, Akwa Ibom State
Owerri Prisons, Imo State
Kuje Prisons, Abuja
Keffi Prison
Suleja Prison, Niger State
Nigerian Military Intelligence Detention Facility, Abuja
IPOB also urged families of missing individuals to investigate whether their loved ones might be held at these facilities. “If your relative is missing, these illegal detention centres are the places to search for them,” the group stated. They warned that many detainees might have been subjected to torture or even killed for organ trafficking by Nigerian security agencies.
The group further accused the Nigerian government of ethnic profiling, claiming that Igbo people have been disproportionately targeted and detained on false accusations of being members of IPOB or the Eastern Security Network (ESN). “Ndigbo are the highest ethnic group being detained under accusations of either being IPOB or ESN members or falsely framed as kidnappers,” IPOB alleged.
The statement went on to say that innocent individuals from other ethnic groups were also being unlawfully detained across these centres. However, IPOB emphasized that Ndigbo are being hunted and locked up in these illegal detention facilities due to ethnic profiling.
Recalling past incidents, IPOB highlighted the unresolved case of its members who were allegedly abducted by Nigerian security forces during a peaceful rally in support of former U.S. President Donald Trump in 2016. “Until today, some of the IPOB members abducted during the Trump inauguration rally in Port Harcourt (Igweocha), Rivers State, are still missing,” the group said. Despite eight years passing, IPOB continues to search for those men and women who disappeared during what the group described as a peaceful rally.
