Chidiebere Onyishi
Over the past few days, agonising reports of the notorious Tiger Base police unit’s activities in Owerri, Imo State, have agitated social media. They have not stopped their actions, sustaining an atmosphere of impunity, even though this is not the first time people have raised an alarm and submitted a flurry of petitions against the unit.
Over the years, people have found it difficult to differentiate a police officer from a tout or kidnapper. Officers rarely wear uniforms and mostly go without name tags, mounting both legal and illegal checkpoints on the road where they harass and intimidate Nigerian youths. They label their victims kidnappers, IPOB, yahoo boys, or cultists to harass and extort them. They employ the good old tactics: giving a dog a bad name to hang it. Interestingly, Google Maps now alerts its users to police checkpoints ahead, just as it alerts them to traffic.
According to Savn Daniel, an expert legal adviser/lawyer, “the series of system harassment, indignities, and occasional excesses that emerge from that station are as consistent as they are disturbing.” Dr Sam Amadi also lent his voice: “I have spoken about it for a long time. Victims are even afraid for you to use their story and allow you to fight for them.” Fisayo Soyombo, founder of the Foundation for Investigative Journalism (FIJ), confirmed that 35 CSOs submitted a petition to the Senate President, calling for an investigation into Tiger Base.
Join our WhatsApp ChannelA Finland-based man and a victim of Tiger Base revealed that the officers picked him up when he was in Imo State. They beat, tortured, humiliated, and extorted him. He claims no human being deserves to stay at Tiger Base because that place is hell. Despite the plethora of reports pointing to the criminal nature of that Police Unit and its officers, the authorities continue to pretend not to notice.
Something is fundamentally wrong with the Nigerian Police Force, especially regarding gross indiscipline. This explains why a policeman would openly boast to his victims and anyone who cares to listen that they can shoot you and nothing will happen, or even if you call the IGP, nothing will happen. One would then conclude that they have, over the years, systematically surrendered their independence, authority, and integrity to powerful individuals and top politicians, taking orders from them or anyone willing to rub their palms generously. No wonder the Police IG had to form a monitoring team because his men blatantly ignored his orders to withdraw from all VIPs. What hope do we have for oversight of units like Tiger Base operating in the shadows?
One thing is clear: the Nigerian Police have lost the goodwill and trust of Nigerians. The Police hierarchy must look inwards and conduct an in-depth self-assessment, enforce discipline, and strictly adhere to the rule of law within its rank and file if they want to salvage any shred of integrity left of their name.
The police’s credibility depends on their ability to enforce the law without breaking it. Essentially, no number of operational successes can cancel out or justify torture, extortion, or extrajudicial killings.
The Senate must act immediately on the petition from 35 civil society organisations. An independent investigation into Tiger Base is not optional; it is urgent. Officers implicated in torture, extortion, and extrajudicial killings must face prosecution, not protection. And the National Human Rights Commission must conduct independent inquiries into all deaths in custody. Anything less makes them complicit.
