Nigeria’s President Bola Tinubu and his government must urgently address the country’s horrifying spate of abductions targeting rural communities and internally displaced persons (IDP) in the northern part of the country, as at least 1,100 people have been abducted in three months – from January to April 2026.
Join this action and demand accountability. #EndTigerBase
This briefing is Amnesty International’s investigation into Tiger Base, the Anti Kidnapping Unit of the Nigeria Police Imo state Command. It uncovers entrenched human rights violations, including prolonged arbitrary detention, torture, extortion, and enforced disappearances – including the removal of children from their mothers without records. Detainees are held in degrading conditions. Cells are overcrowded, poorly ventilated, and unsanitary – resulting in severe health complications and, in some cases, death. These practices violate Nigeria’s Constitution, the Anti Torture Act 2017, and international human rights law.
A Nigerian police unit set up to tackle kidnapping and armed robbery in Imo state has instead been unlawfully killing suspects, torturing and ill-treating detainees to coerce them into confessing to bogus crimes, and arresting people for the sole purpose of extracting lucrative bribes for their release, Amnesty International said today.
Responding to the abduction of 166 persons during worship in three churches on Sunday 18 January in Kajuru local government area of Kaduna state northern Nigeria, Isa Sanusi Director Amnesty International Nigeria said:
Responding to the abduction of over 25 girls from Government Girls Comprehensive Secondary School Maga Kebbi state, Isa Sanusi Director, Amnesty International Nigeria said:
Marking 30 years since the Nigerian government’s brutal execution of nine leading environmental activists – the Ogoni Nine – for fighting to protect the Niger Delta from oil giant Shell, Amnesty International is calling for their full exoneration. The anniversary coincides with the start of the UN climate talks (COP 30) in Brazil.
In 2022, Makhabat Tazhibek kyzy was the head of one of the most prominent investigative media outlets in Kyrgyzstan, uncovering alleged corruption at the highest levels and reporting on deeply rooted social issues like inequality, giving a voice to those people affected.
In 2021, Damisoa and his family fled their home in the famine-stricken Androy region of southern Madagascar. Droughts worsened by climate change meant there wasn’t enough food to survive.
Ellinor Guttorm Utsi is an Indigenous Sámi woman, and a passionate leader fighting to protect her community’s ancient reindeer-herding way of life in northern Norway. As a spokesperson, she speaks out for her family and her people who have followed seasonal migration routes across the Arctic for generations. They rely on summer grazing lands in Čorgaš, lands now under urgent threat.
Sonia is a lawyer and media commentator who has dedicated her life to defending human rights. She stands up for the marginalized, saying what others are afraid to, no matter the cost. A vocal critic of inhumane prison conditions and racism, she regularly addresses these issues on television and radio shows.
No parent should have to bury their child because the government ignored their basic right to safety. In April 2024, three-year-old Unecebo died after falling into a pit toilet at his pre-school in South Africa.