•Tasks Tinubu on South-East killings by security forces

The Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria (HURIWA) on Monday declared the governor of Anambra State, Prof. Charles Chukwuma Soludo, “must take personal responsibility for the flagrant disregard for the rule of law and the widespread human rights violations by operatives of the armed security agents especially the largely untrained and unprofessional vigilantes.”

Reacting to the assault on a National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) member, Jennifer Elobor, by members of the state security outfit, HURIWA regretted that “this evil maltreatment of a youth corp member by the Anambra State sponsored armed vigilantes is not the first time.” It also asserted that the armed vigilantes operate like primitive brutes and have no regard for the fundamental human rights of the citizens. “These vigilantes with poor trainings are behaving like wild animals and are responsible for some of the most primitive and despicable crimes against innocent traders in the different cities and towns of Anambra State without the Governor taken any measures to rein them in and compel them to abide by the due process of the law since Anambra State is neither a zoo nor animal farm. This ugly incident of humiliation and physical torture of a youth corps member who is In Anambra State to serve her fatherland, must be the last and the government should set up a disciplinary agency similar to Police Service Commission to overlooked the operation of security agencies in Anambra State,@ HURIWA said.

Besides, the rights group said it is shocking that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has treated with disdain and disrespect, the report of massive killings and forced disappearances of Igbo youths in the South-East carried out mainly by armed security forces sent by the Abuja authority just as the Rights group stated that the Federal Government must carry out independent investigation with a view to fishing out the armed state actors and the armed non-state actors who have continued to wage unrelenting campaigns of mass killings and the destruction of property of citizens in the South-East with specific reference to the unprecedented insecurity in Imo state.

On the Anambra state’s show of shame, HURIWA made reference to reports in a video that went viral on Tuesday, which shows the operatives armed with guns stormed the corps members’ lodge, accused them of being internet fraudsters despite showing their identification cards and uniforms.

The operatives were seen beating the female corps member despite her cries for help.

In the process, her clothes were torn, leaving her exposed.

Despite this, the operatives in number continued to beat the female corps member.

In the video, the corps member was seen begging the security operatives to stop as they continued to hit her.

The Rights group stated that ths attack has, understandably, triggered outrage on social media, with many Nigerians condemning the actions of the vigilante group and demanding justice for the victim.

HURIWA dismissed as tokenism and propaganda the position canvassed by the Anambra State Government on Channels Television’s The Morning Brief on Tuesday, through the Special Adviser to Governor Chukwuma Soludo on Community Security, Ken Emeakayi, who described the incident as unfortunate and unacceptable.

He confirmed that the operatives involved in the assault had been arrested and are currently under investigation.

According to Emeakayi, the incident occurred during a joint security operation when operatives of Agbunechemba, the state security outfit established under the Anambra State Homeland Security Law 2025, pursued suspected cultists into a residential compound.

He explained that the operation was part of Operation Udo Ga Achi, a code name for joint task force operations involving the police, army, Department of State Services, civil defence, and the state’s security outfit.

HURIWA in a media statement endorsed by the National Coordinator, Comrade Emmanuel Nnadozie Onwubiko, said the Governor failed to ensure that the operatives of the state’s funded armed vigilantes are trained adequately before being allowed to bear arms just as the Rights group stated that from all indications, the operatives are not made to comply with best global practices or rather it is unfortunate that the Anambra State Government did not establish a clearly stated Rules of Engagement by which the armed vigilantes must comply with including the strictest adherence to the due process of the law and respect for the human rights of the citizens as espoused and enshrined in Chapter 4 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria of 1999 as amended. HURIWA said the respect for the human rights of citizens is mandatory just as the government has the duty of care to protect citizens from the violence inflicted on them by state actors and non-state actors.

“We are challenging the loquacious governor of Anambra State to take responsibility for the extensive human rights violations committed by the armed vigilantes set up by his administration just as the Rights group condemned the extensively reported and documented cases of human rights violations in Anambra State by the vigilantes of Operation Udo Ga Achi set up by Governor Charles Chukwuma Nwagbafor Soludo. All those operatives responsible for inflicting physical tortures on citizens must be identified, arrested, prosecuted and punished for their crimes against humanity”, HURIWA stated.

HURIWA has also asked President Tinubu to order his Attorney General of the Federation, Prince Lateef Fagbemi (SAN), to constitute an independent commission of experts to be drawn from the judiciary of South-East states, representatives of the civil society in the South East just as the body should be headed by a statesman/woman or revered stakeholder so there is a transparent, open and public inquiry into the reported and verifiable documented cases of torture and killings of Igbo youths by armed security forces including armed non state actors so the killers are identified, prosecuted and sanctioned for the mass murders they committed.

HURIWA is demanding that the President directs the police authority and the other heads of the different armed security services, to immediately produce all the Igbo people they abducted since over 3 years over allegations of belonging to the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB). HURIWA condemned the evil practices by security forces of kidnapping forcefully, Igbo civilians in the dead of the night and thereafter hiding them from their relatives and lawyers for years and in some cases these youths are executed illegally by the federal government’s funded security agents which the rights group describes as the most violent and heinous crimes against humanity which must never be swept under the carpets.

HURIWA said in the statement: “It is noteworthy that with the denial by the Nigerian military that its personnel never engaged in extrajudicial killings in the South-East, Amnesty International (AI) has said it has “concrete evidence,” including names and addresses of individuals, allegedly killed by security forces in the region. The human rights group claimed that many of the victims were targeted during military and police operations in areas suspected of harbouring members of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPoB) or its armed affiliate, the Eastern Security Network (ESN). We want President Bola Ahmed Tinubu tontake special interest in these evil actions of the armed goons under his command and control and bring all the killer soldiers, police and secret police to trials without any further delays.”

The rights group recalled that the Director of Defence Media Operations, Major General Markus Kangye, had dismissed Amnesty’s claims, asserting that security forces do not engage in extrajudicial killings and that operations in the South-East have instead reduced the capacity of criminal groups. He also accused the rights group of consistently targeting the military with biased reports.

HURIWA commended the Amnesty International for speaking out in the defence of the commoners who have borne the brunt of brutal killings by soldiers and police just as HURIWA recalled that the Amnesty International’s country head who Spoke on Channels Television’s The Morning Brief on Friday, Isah Sanusi, however, pushed back, saying the report also documented attacks against military personnel and their facilities.

“It is not about condemning the military. We are doing the honest thing, documenting human rights violations regardless of who committed them,” he said, adding that Amnesty wrote to the military before the report’s release but received no response.

Sanusi revealed that the organisation interviewed 100 individuals in the region, 95 of them face-to-face, while compiling its latest 128-page report, “A Decade of Impunity: Attacks and Unlawful Killings in South-East Nigeria.

According to the report, over 1,844 people were killed between January 2021 and June 2023, with documented cases of torture, enforced disappearances, arbitrary arrests, and other human rights violations by the military, police, the Ebube Agu regional security outfit, and non-state actors.

HURIWA strongly condemned “both Mr. President and the National Assembly for keeping mute in the face of these horrendous killings in the South-East documented by a globally respected organisation; Amnesty International.” It said that were it northerners or people in the South West that were killed by soldiers and terrorists and the report released since over a week, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu would have personally taken steps to ensure that there is justice for the victims and their relatives. “So why is the case of killings of Ndigbo so different and why is the Nigerian President treating this damaging report with indifference? What have the Igbos done to President Tinubu?” HURIWA asked.