The American Military Veterans of Igbo Descent (AVID) has noted with profound alarm and indignation the recent reports—corroborated by Amnesty International—of the coordinated, nighttime movement of hundreds of unidentified and predominantly skeletal humans remains from mortuaries in Imo State, including those at Ngor Okpala General Hospital and Mbieri General Hospital, to undisclosed destinations.

In a statement, AVID said the developments are not isolated administrative irregularities but part of a grim and unbroken pattern of extrajudicial killings, enforced disappearances, and the systematic disposal of bodies that has plagued Southeast Nigeria since 2015.

The veterans lamented that for more than a decade, communities across the region have lived under the shadow of security operations that have left countless families without answers, without remains, and without justice. “The images and accounts of skeletal remains being moved under cover of darkness only deepen the legitimate suspicion that evidence of unlawful killings is being deliberately erased,” they said.

“As military veterans sworn to uphold the rule of law, constitutional order, and the dignity of the human person, we cannot remain silent while the dead are treated as inconvenient refuse and the living are denied closure. The right to life is not a privilege granted by the state; it is an inalienable entitlement. The failure to identify the deceased, establish the causes of death, preserve forensic evidence, and inform grieving families constitutes a continuing violation of both Nigerian constitutional guarantees and international human rights obligations.”

The veterans then demanded that the Governors of the Southeast states—Abia, Anambra, Ebonyi, Enugu, and Imo—must, without further delay, independently and concurrently appoint robust Judicial Commissions of Inquiry with full powers to investigate all extrajudicial killings, enforced disappearances, and suspicious deaths linked to security operations in the region from 2015 to the present.

AVID demanded that the commissions must be chaired by retired judges of high integrity, composed of independent legal practitioners, forensic experts, pathologists, and representatives of civil society, and must operate with complete transparency and public sittings.

The association stated that the commissions must compel the production of all mortuary records, medical reports, police and military incident reports, and any other relevant documentation; order comprehensive forensic examinations, including DNA testing where necessary; and ensure that families of the missing and deceased are formally notified and given the opportunity to identify remains.

“All persons against whom credible evidence of unlawful killings or concealment of evidence is established must be prosecuted without fear or favor, regardless of rank or institutional affiliation.

“Pending the full and public accounting of everybody moved from Imo State mortuaries and other facilities across the region, no further disposal, mass burial, or destruction of remains or records shall be permitted. The Governors of the Southeast cannot continue to govern while the blood of their people cries out from unmarked graves and overcrowded mortuaries. Silence in the face of this horror is complicity. Half-measures and cosmetic committees will not suffice. Only independent, thorough, and fearless judicial inquiries can begin to restore confidence, deliver accountability, and afford the bereaved the dignity of knowing what became of their loved ones.

“AVID stands with the families of the disappeared and the dead. We call on Ohanaeze Ndigbo Worldwide, the South East Governors’ Forum, the National Assembly, international human rights bodies, and all people of conscience to support this demand for truth and justice. The dead must be named. The killers must be held to account. The families must have closure.” AVID said.