A new report from Amnesty International has revealed that more than 1,800 people were killed in southeast Nigeria in just over two years, accusing both armed separatists and state security forces of being responsible.
The human rights organisation documented 1,844 deaths between January 2021 and June 2023 from attacks carried out by so-called unknown gunmen and security outfits.
The violence, which the report links to a “decade of impunity,” affected the states of Abia, Anambra, Ebonyi, Enugu, and Imo. Amnesty International detailed one particularly brutal incident from November 2022, where about 30 armed men stormed the palace of a traditional ruler, Eze Ignatius Asor, in the Obudu Agwa community of Imo State.
Witnesses said the attackers “opened fire in the palace courtyard, and executed the monarch and two visiting chiefs in cold blood.” The report stated that “the attackers allegedly fired more than 16 bullets into the traditional ruler’s body before fleeing the scene,” adding that no arrests have been made.
The wave of killings is traced back to 2019, when armed factions began enforcing sit-at-home orders linked to the banned separatist group, the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB).
While IPOB has denied involvement in civilian killings, Amnesty’s findings indicate that various splinter cells now operate independently, “launching coordinated assaults on police stations, markets and public officials.”
The report also levelled serious allegations against government security forces and the regional security network, Ebube Agu. It accused them of “arbitrary arrests, torture and summary executions.” This combination of violence has created a climate of deep fear. “The lack of accountability emboldens perpetrators,” Amnesty said. “Communities now live between the terror of the gunmen and the fear of those meant to protect them.”
In response, the Nigerian Defence Headquarters has denied the claims, stating that the armed forces “operate strictly within the law.”
However, the report urges the government to act, calling for an independent judicial panel to investigate all killings and provide compensation to victims’ families. It warned that without justice, peace in the region would remain elusive, a concern underscored by continued violence, including a May 2025 attack that killed at least 30 travellers on the Okigwe-Owerri highway.
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