Lamentations, tears took the centre stage at the weekend in Enugu as victims and relatives narrated arbitrary arrests, torture, incommunicado detention and enforced disappearances meted on residents arising from security operations in the southeast region since 2021.

At a joint press briefing convened by the Southeast Human Rights Bureau (SEHRB), Oganihu Igbo Development Foundation and International Society for Civil Liberties and Rule of Law (Intersociety), the survivors, families of missing and detained persons, among others drew national attention to disturbing allegations of human rights violations arising from security operations in the region.

35 year old Ozioma Elizabeth Onyeaka, a teacher from Anambra State, had reportedly disappeared after attending a night church programme, leaving her relatives to traverse countless police stations, military formations and mortuaries in a desperate and fruitless search for her

She had left the vigil at about 5am to her residence in Owerri, Imo State but never got home. She was waylaid by armed security officials.For more than five years, from 2021 her family searched unsuccessfully for her.

They subsequently learned in June 16, this year that she was alive and detained at Wawa Barracks, Niger State, after a lawyer encountered her in connection with terrorism proceedings.

Sunday Ifedi and his wife, Calista, were reportedly arrested by the DSS in Enugu in 2021 and transferred to Wawa Barracks. Sunday regained his freedom after more than four years. Calista reportedly died in custody.

According to allegations attributed to Sunday and human rights activist Omoyele Sowore, she was buried in a shallow grave at Wawa Barracks.

Mrs Esther Okwudili Egbom was reportedly arrested by DSS operatives during a night prayer programme in Aba, Abia State, on 12 February 2025.

According to her daughter, Chiamaka, the operatives were searching for another person who escaped before their arrival.

Mrs Egbom was allegedly arrested because she owned the ministry where the operation occurred. Her family says it has not seen her since.

Chiamaka also alleged that her brother was beaten during the operation and subsequently died.

Mrs Uloma Chidi Echefu alleged that DSS operatives arrested her husband, Chidiebere Echefu, at their home on 7 November 2021.

She stated that he was denied family contact and independent legal representation for nearly five years before his recent remand at Kuje Custodial Centre.

Mrs Ozioma Adaku Arinze also said that her husband, Ifeanyi Thomas Arinze, was taken from their home in Owerri by persons she identified as DSS operatives in November 2021. She had neither seen nor heard from him since.

Mrs Chinyere Blessing Nwachukwu recounted that police officers arrested her husband at their home in Port Harcourt in 2021.

She said that after several months of searching, she received information from former detainees indicating that he had been held at Tiger Base in Owerri.

She said amid tears that despite repeated accounts from persons who claimed to have seen him there, officers allegedly denied holding him.

She subsequently encountered photographs of her husband circulating on social media, raising fears about his fate, stressing that for five years, she and her children have lived without answers.

Her testimony raises serious questions about possible unacknowledged detention and enforced disappearance.

Also Abel Onyedikachi Ugwuoke reportedly disappeared on 8 December 2024 after leaving his family compound on a motorcycle.

According to his relative, it was later known that he was being held at Kuje Custodial Centre in Abuja, alleging that they were never officially informed of his arrest.

There is also the case Ifenyinwa who alleged that officers attached to Tiger Base, Owerri , Imo State arrested her, her husband and their children in Orlu in 2021 while searching for her son.

She further alleged that their home, church and maternity facility were destroyed, stressing that her husband was tortured and subsequently transferred to an Intelligence Response Team facility in Abuja.

She was reportedly released after nearly two years, but her husband has remainef missing.

Adaeze alleged that officers from Tiger Base arrested her in Orlu in February 2021 after falsely identifying her as an IPOB treasurer.

She reported severe torture, including being tightly bound, physical injuries and vomiting blood and later transferred to Abuja and later to Suleja Custodial Centre, where she was released after five years.

Ngozichukwu alleged that officers associated with the Intelligence Response Team abducted her in lagos in 2021 and transferred her to Abuja.

She was accused of contributing money towards medical treatment for persons injured during the EndSARS protests.

For Okechukwu Paul, his wife, Peace reported that DSS operatives arrested him in October 2021 and had never been seen since then.

Mrs Ezugwu Ndidiamaka Perpetual reports that unidentified persons took away her husband, Ezugwu Paul Ejike, on 5 December 2024, adding that his whereabouts had remained unknown since then.

In a joint statement issued onbehalf of the victims, the coalition expressed concerned about persons reportedly arrested in the Southeast and transferred to distant detention facilities, including Wawa Barracks in Niger State, Kuje and Suleja Custodial Centres, and facilities associated with the Department of State Services (DSS) and police tactical formations.

“Some families have searched for their relatives for years without official confirmation of their whereabouts, legal status or fate.

We also condemn killings, abductions and other atrocities committed by armed separatist elements, criminal gangs and non-state actors operating under the guise of agitation. Their victims equally deserve justice”, they said.

Executive Director of the Rule of Law and Accountability Advocacy Centre ( RULAAC), Okechukwu Nwanguma stated that Nigeria must not allow current violence and abuses in the Southeast to become another unresolved historical tragedy.

“The Southeast has suffered devastating insecurity. Police officers, soldiers, traditional rulers, community leaders and ordinary citizens have been murdered. Public facilities have been attacked, and communities have endured abductions, extortion and violence.

“Those responsible must be investigated and prosecuted in accordance with the law.

“However, legitimate security operations cannot justify arbitrary arrests, torture, collective punishment, unlawful detention or enforced disappearances”, he said.

The group stated that every arrest must be documented, adding that the identity of the arresting agency, place of detention, legal basis for custody and subsequent transfers must be ascertainable.

“Detainees must have access to legal representation, family contact and judicial safeguards.

“No family should spend years searching police stations, military formations, DSS facilities, correctional centres, hospitals and mortuaries for a relative taken into State custody”, it said

The group called on the federal government, Inspector General of Police and other relevant institutions to establish an independent investigative mechanism to examine reported disappearances, prolonged incommunicado detention, torture and custodial deaths connected with security operations in the Southeast.

They also wants a comprehensive audit of detention facilities, including Wawa Barracks and relevant police, military and DSS facilities, to identify all persons held, their legal status, custody history and access to judicial safeguards as well as as account for every missing person reportedly taken into State custody.