Amnesty International’s Red Flag on Nigeria

Chido Nwangwu writes about the latest report of Amnesty International which chronicles identified insecurity and human rights abuses in the South East geo-political zone in the last five years.

Amnesty International, the non-governmental organization on human rights and the impacts of insecurity, released its latest report on August 13, 2025. It is critical of what it considered to be the Nigerian government’s “failure” to address the insecurity and human rights abuses in areas generally and historically identified as the South-East region of the country.

The organization stated that there were thousands of deaths and numerous human rights violations against citizens. A thumbnail

.1,844 people killed between January 2021 and June 2023.

.Gunmen killed more than 400 people in Imo state between 2019 and 2021.

.Hundreds of people were arbitrarily detained and forcibly disappeared.

Amnesty stated that the “security crisis in the country’s South-East region has created a free-for-all reign of impunity in which numerous state and non-state actors have committed serious human rights violations.”

The report, A Decade of Impunity: Attacks and Unlawful Killings in Southeast Nigeria, documents unlawful killings, torture and other ill-treatment, enforced disappearances, arbitrary arrests and displacement at the hands of rampaging gunmen, state-backed paramilitary outfits, vigilantes, criminal gangs and cults in the South-East region between January 2021 and December 2024.

“The Nigerian authorities’ brutal clampdown on pro-Biafra protests from August 2015 plunged the South-East region into an endless cycle of bloodshed, which has created a climate of fear and left many communities vulnerable. Assassinations of prominent personalities and attacks on highways, security personnel and facilities are chilling reminders of the region’s insecurity,” said Isa Sanusi, Director of Amnesty International Nigeria.

The report stated that “The government must stop turning a blind eye to the unlawful killings, arbitrary arrests and detention, torture, enforced disappearances, and destruction of properties in the South-East region. Authorities must live up to their constitutional and international human rights obligations, including ensuring all suspected perpetrators are brought to justice in fair trial, no matter who they are, and that victims and their families have access to justice and effective remedies.”

The report is based on interviews with 100 people, including survivors, victims’ relatives, civil society members, lawyers, traditional leaders, and religious leaders. Amnesty International also conducted research missions to Owerri in Imo State, Asaba in Delta State, Obosi in Anambra State, and Enugu in Enugu State between April 2023 and November 2023.

Sanusi added that “The high number of killings and the persistent fear of potential attacks occurring at any time illustrate how severely the authorities are failing to protect lives and property and to maintain law and order.”

These issues of insecurity and violence have severely/negatively affect the demographic stability and development capabilities of the south East.

We have also read reports of some cases in other areas of the country where ethnic hostilities and religion-rooted bigotry have fueled violence.

The families and communities who have been asking questions about “vanished” or “missing” siblings are hoping for answers.

-Dr. Nwangwu is the Founder of the first African-owned, U.S-based newspaper on the internet, USAfricaonline.com, and established USAfrica in 1992 in Houston.

Follow him on X @Chido247