Follow Us on Google
- 1, 844 killed in two years, communities in ruins – Report
- Families grieve as hundreds of residents were murdered by gunmen, kidnappers
- Traditional rulers demand state police, bishop seeks strong political will
From Uchenna Inya, Abakaliki
Nigeria’s South East, which was regarded as the most peaceful region in Nigeria, became one of the security flashpoints in the country following a spate of insecurity in the area which began in August, 2015.
The situation has claimed many lives with property worth billions of naira destroyed in the last ten years, leaving pain, sorrow and trauma in the decade in the five eastern states of the federation.
The menace worsened significantly due to a cycle of state-led violence and vigilante/militia actions, particularly since the crackdown on Biafra agitators in 2015.
Factors that escalated the situation included failure to address human rights violations, leading to a breakdown of law and order where both state and non-state actors took up arms and perpetrated the killings, maiming and destruction which the victims have not recovered from till date.
The rise of the ubiquitous so-called ‘unknown gunmen’ is regarded as a key symptom of the multifaceted problem, involving the political elite, resource conflicts, and a general breakdown of state authority.
The government clampdown on pro-Biafra protests fuelled a cycle of violence, creating a climate of fear and vulnerability in the region which the zone is suffering presently.
The period has seen human rights violations by state-backed groups and non-state actors like criminal gangs and cults, in addition to the unknown gunmen that are still operating in some parts of the region despite onslaught against the gunmen, including the arrest of Yahoo de Gentle and trial of Simon Ekpa, as well as ongoing trial of Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB).
South East governors, in a bid to end insecurity in the zone, launched a joint-security network which they called Ebube-Agu. The security network was launched in Owerri, Imo State capital on 11th April, 2021 during their first security summit.
The launch of the joint security network by the governors was not backed by law and there was no structure and sustainable funding mechanism for its operation as the security outfit was not physically established in all of the South East states.
It was only in Ebonyi that the Ebube-Agu security network was effective, but it was challenged by some indigenes of the state at the federal high court following the excesses of members of the security outfit. A Federal High Court sitting in Abakaliki proscribed the security network.
Because of the collapse of the Ebube-Agu security network in the region, killings, maiming, destruction persisted, with many communities in the South East states still under siege.
Anambra
Anambra, which shares boundaries majorly with Enugu and Imo, is almost the worst hit in terms of insecurity in the zone. This probably made Governor Charles Soludo to float a security outfit code-named operation Udo Ga-Achi (Operation Peace Must Reign).
Despite the birth of the security outfit, many communities in the state are still under siege. The gunmen are said to be operating from their camps located in various forests in Lilu, Ihiala, Azia, Okija, Isseke, Ununbi, Uga, and Orsumughu, among other forests in the state.
Dominic Okolie, from Lilu in the state, narrated the pathetic condition of the community at the presentation of report of killings in South East in the last ten years on 7th October, 2025 in Enugu, the Enugu State capital, by the Amnesty International, a human rights organisation, revealed that between December 2020 and August 2025, over 25 persons from the community, have been killed by unknowns gunmen.
He further revealed that over 30 houses have been burnt by the unknown gunmen with many disappearance cases recorded in the community.
Okolie said the community is completely deserted with victims of the insecurity currently taking refuge in some safe Anambra communities and Imo communities.
“Lilu is an agrarian community led by our traditional ruler, C. C Onyediri. Lilu shares borders with some communities in Anambra State and some communities in Imo State. Lilu has minimal government infrastructural presence and it seems Lilu is noticed during elections and after elections, they abandon Lilu once again.
“Lilu has a lot of forest and unfortunately, these forests became a hideout for these hoodlums. We must understand that since 2020, at least till date, Lilu has faced series of human rights violations, killings, disappearances.
“In fact, between December 2020 and August 2025, over 25 people have been killed and disappeared again and the usual suspects are these so-called unknown gunmen and between the same period, over 30 houses have been burnt down, including a few government infrastructure we have got.
“The central thing in all these killings, human right abuses, burning, arson is that theatre is not accountability, nobody has been held accountable. So, Lilu has been under serious siege with minimal media presence and reportage.
“Lilu used to be a very peaceful community before 2020 but now, a lot has changed. Our mothers are no longer going to their farms and our people are now internally displaced, they are living in different communities scattered around Anambra State and some parts of Imo State . So, Lilu is facing a lot of psychological trauma as result of these killings and destructions”, he said.
In the state, gunmen abducted and beheaded Achukwu on June 2022. Achukwu was a former House of Assembly member in the state. The sum of N15million was paid as ransom to the abductors before his body was dumped by his killers. The body was found at the Uke and Ukpor boundary in Nnewi South Local Government Area of the state.
On 28 September, 2021, gunmen killed Dr. Chike Akunyili at Afor Nkpor in Idemili North Local Government Area of the state.
Akunyili was returning to Enugu from a meeting in Onitsha, Anambra State when the gunmen attacked and killed him. The gunmen also killed his driver and his police orderly.
On February 21st, 2022 in the state, gunmen killed two policemen and abducted a couple Ceejay and Dr Nini at Okija in Ihiala Local Government Area.
Gunmen had killed Alex Edozieuno, a traditional ruler and his driver, Chukwuemeka in an ambush at Otuocha in the state on 10th September 2021.
On 11th September, 2022 a year after, gunmen attacked the convoy of late Senator Ifeanyi Ubah, killing two policemen and his three aides. The incident occurred in Enugwu-Ukwu community, Njikoka Local Government Area of the state. There were other brutal killings.
Few months ago in the state, gunmen killed 13 indigenes of Ebonyi State in Ogboji, Orumba South Local Government Area. The incident, which occurred during the meeting of the Ebonyi indigenes in the community, nearly sparked off an inter-state war between Ebonyi and Amanbra but for the way and manner the two governors of the state, Charles Soludo and Francis Nwifuru handled the matter.
The deceased were given state burial by Nwifuru who gave their families N5million to start up businesses for survival and N1million, and warned them never to go back to the Anambra community
Imo
Imo and Anambra are the two worst-hit states in the menace. Till today, some communities in the 27 local government areas of the state, are still under siege following the gunmen operations
Those who lost their family members, friends and relatives and means of livelihood, have not recovered from the loss. They’re still in sorrow and anger.
Chief Nduka Ozo, from Agwa in Oguta Local Government Area of the state said he was ready to go to the United Nations (UN) to talk about his brother, Chris Kpatuma, a retired Deputy Commissioner of Police who served in the Legal Department in Delta and Imo states respectively as the Head of the Legal Units of the two police commands. He was abducted in his house, murdered and his body brought to his family by his killers.
Ozo attended the report presentation by Amnesty International in Enugu on the killings and destructions in South East on October 7, 2025.
His words “I am speaking as somebody that was affected by what happened in Imo State. Agwa is the second largest clan in Imo State after Mberi. On the 29th of January, 2022, I came back for the burial of our uncle’s wife. After the burial, myself and my brother retired back to our house to talk about other family matters.
“I told my brother that I would be going back to Lagos on 30th and he said he would go back also on 30th. So I left for Lagos and he also left for Owerri where he resides. He was a retired Assistant Commissioner of Police before he retired.
“On the 2nd of February, 2022, he came back again to the village to solve some problems. By 9pm, I got a call from the community that my brother had been abducted. They abducted him and took him to a farmland. I put a call across to the DPO in my community and they told me they didn’t have a vehicle.
“I called the vigilantes and the vigilantes said they didn’t have fuel in their vehicle, that I would pay. But they couldn’t get fuel.
“Around 11 o’clock, the boys that abducted him brought his dead body back and knocked at the doors of relatives at home that they should go and take the body of their brother, that they had killed him. His offence was that he said crime would not prevail in our community.
“They killed him in cold blood and I lost my brother for nothing. He was a lawyer. He served at the legal department team in Delta State. He also served as O/C Legal in Imo State.
“These guys that abducted my brother were not unknown. They didn’t cover their faces, they didn’t wear masks. Some of them even called him Dede and if you know what it means to call somebody Dede in Igboland, that means you are a respected person.
“In November the same year, a foremost traditional ruler in our place, Dr Aso was brutally murdered in his palace with other people. In April that same year, Agwa Police Division was burnt down by the supposed unknown gunmen but they are not unknown.
“In that police division, there was a woman who was three months pregnant. She had been married for over 10 years without a child. But at the time, they killed her by burning her to death.
“They will come to the community, they will kill, cut off people’s heads and go to the market to display it. I ran away from the community because I was also marked for death. For three years, I did not visit my community and my community that used to be a very lively place became a ghost town. Schools were closed, churches were closed, market places were closed.
“They put their members in all the entrances into the community. If they see a strange face, you are gone. So many lost their lives without knowing why they were killed. Sometimes, if you talk about them and somebody hears it and tells them, your house, yourself are gone.
“These things happened in my community and I am ready to go to the United Nations to talk about it. What else can they do to me? In all these, we didn’t hear anything from the government. They didn’t even visit our community.”
The gunmen killed a military personnel and the traditional prime minister of the community in his house on 2nd January 2021.
Investigation shows that since that year, the community has become like a ghost town. It was gathered that about 70 per cent of the men and the young boys have fled the community for fear of being killed by the gunmen.
It was further gathered that the few who are still there live in constant fear.
On 1st April 2023 in the community, the gunmen reportedly killed Chukwuemeka David, a local furniture maker. The incident occurred in Obudi in the area.
The gunmen also operated in Izombe, a neighbouring community. The gunmen reportedly operated in the daytime unchecked, killed many residents and destroyed property worth billions of naira in the oil producing community.
Gunmen had killed the traditional ruler of Okwudor Autonomous community, Anayachukwu Durueburuo, and his counterpart in Ihebineowerre autonomous community on 19th October, 2021 during a meeting at Nnenasa in Njaba Local Government Area of the state.
In August this year, gunmen killed two police escorts attached to the Majority Leader of Ebonyi State House of Assembly, Hon. Kingsley Ikoro on the Okigwe-Owerri Expressway in Imo State.
His driver, Nneoma told Saturday Sun that he narrowly escaped death during the incident
Nneoma said himself, the lawmaker, the two policemen and another occupant of the two-convoy vehicles were returning to Abakaliki after attending a burial in Imo State when the incident occurred.
He said on getting close to Okigwe junction, one of the vehicles, a BMW Utility car which was driven by the lawmaker broke down and they had to park to check what happened to the vehicle.
“While we were inspecting the vehicle, a young man approached us and said that he was a mechanic and that he could help fix the car. Hon Ikoro was reluctant to allow him repair the car to forestall further damage of the car.
“Meanwhile, two of the policemen who were with me in the second vehicle, a Nivara Truck said that they wouldn’t come down from the vehicle.ide the vehicle.
“While inside the vehicle, the lawmaker asked the supposed mechanic man to get a towing van to tow the vehicle which he accepted. We now started trans-loading the bags from the BMW to the truck.
“Not quite long, a young man wearing a jeans knickers with AK 47 rifle came to me and started asking me of the policemen with m,e but I quickly replied that there are no policemen with me.
“Immediately, he opened the door of the truck and opened fire on the police officers that were still seated inside the car. On seeing what was happening, all of us scampered for safety.
“Later, some soldiers arrived at the scene and people started coming out from their hiding places. It was then that we observed that the policemen had been killed. They were shot while inside the vehicle. At no point did we abandon them at the scene and entered another vehicle and left”, he narrated.
Ebonyi
Ebonyi State, which prides itself as salt of the nation, has also been attacked by gunmen, who despatched many innocent victims to their graves.
In Akpoha, a tiny, hilly, stony community in Afikpo local government area of the state and Isu community in Onicha local government, the gunmen spilled blood and also left the people in sorrow.
The two communities in the Southern part of the state have been under attack by the gunmen for some years, with many residents killed or kidnapped. The list includes a traditional ruler who has not been seen since he was abducted over two years ago.
The gunmen killed five members of the communities including a vigilante member, youth leader, ward councillor and two others last year.
In Akpoha, Emmanuel Nwocha, the leader of Neighbourhood Security Watch in the area which replaced the defunct Ebubeagu Security Network formed by the last administration, Egwu Nicholas Nwocha, a member of the community and Inya Blessing Orieona from Ozizza community, one of the communities in Afikpo ancient city who visited the area, were shot dead.
Emmanuel Nwocha, the Chief Security Officer of the company handling construction by the federal government of a new bridge on the ever-busy Abakaliki/Akpoha Highway, had over 10 bullets in his body.
As the people of the community were mourning the attack by the gunmen, Isu community in Onicha Local Government Area was also attacked. The gunmen kill a ward councillor, Stanley Akpa Nwaeze and his friend, Arinze Joshua Ugochukwu, a youth leader.
Stanley Akpa Nwaeze represented Enuagu ward in the local government while Ugochukwu a native of Amagu Mgbom in Isu community was the LGA Coordinator of National Youth Council Of Nigeria (NYCN) and Secretary, Ebonyi State College of Education, Ikwo Alumni Association.
Isu community has been witnessing killings and kidnapping for over two years. In one of the killings, a lady’s corpse was found along a bush part between Agbebor Isu and Onicha-Igboeze communities in the area. She was raped and killed.
The incident happened when the community was looking for its traditional ruler, Ambrose Ogbu, who was kidnapped in his palace in the area. Till today, the whereabouts of the monarch has remained unknown while the community has elected another traditional ruler.
The community also lost its President General, Palace Secretary and some other prominent members. The community leaders were assassinated by gunmen.
The gunmen also invaded a hotel in the community, Galaxy hotel and killed three persons in August last year.
Those killed included, Henry Ezeani Chukwu, 43, an indigene of Anambra State who was security aide to Chief Ifeanyi Chukwuma Odii the 2023 PDP governorship candidate, Ebonyi State who is an indigene of the community, Augustine Ogbonnaya Nwadiba, proprietor of the hotel and indigene of Mgbom Amanator in the community, Alexander Ekwe Okorie, 52, a native of Uhuoke Amanator of the community.
On Friday, 3rd May 2024, gunmen invaded Umuihe autonomous community in Ivo Local Government Area of the state and killed its traditional ruler, HRH Umazi Ibo Ubani.
Ubani was killed in his palace. There were heavy shootings in the area which caused pandemonium as the people scampered for safety.
A resident of the community, Donatus Owoh described the late monarch as kind, humble and a peaceful king.
Ubani’s remains were committed to mother earth on Saturday, 25th October, 2025 in his palace.
Tears flowed uncontrollably during the burial which attracted people from all walks of life.
Gunmen also killed the traditional of Umuezeokaha community, Ezza North Local Government Area of the state, HRH, Igboke Ewa on February 2023 in his palace.
He was killed in the night and the killing caused tension in the community and the entire state. Igboke was buried a year after his murder.
On November 2023, gunmen killed three policemen on Hilltop’Nwofe road that leads to Governor Francis Nwifuru’s place in Izzi Local Government Area. The three policemen were killed in a checkpoint on the road.
Few days to 2023 Christmas celebration, gunmen killed three vigilante in Nwofe, Izzi Local Government Area.
On 24th December night, 2023 gunmen invaded a Catholic Church, Immaculate Conception Catholic Church in Nkwegu, Abakaliki Local Government Area and killed three parishioners. .
The church was having vigil mass to prepare for Christmas celebration when the gunmen struck.
Abia
Gunmen are also terrorising Abia, the heartland state. Some places in the state especially forests are still being occupied by gunmen till today. A place like Lokpanta which has a tick forest, has remained unsafe for the inhabitants, motorists and other road users.
Lokpanta shares boundary with Ishiagu, Ivo Local Government Area of Ebonyi State, Awgu in Agwu Local Government Area of Enugu State and some parts of Imo State.
Many people have been killed by gunmen around the area between 2021 and 2025. Many persons have also been abducted by the gunmen. Herdsmen are said to have their base in the place. Natives and other neighbouring communities are accusing the herdsmen of being responsible for all the attacks and killings in the area.
The gunmen usually operate on Awgu/Mpu/Ishiagu/Lokpanta expressway in the evening. Once it is 6:30pm and a traveller is preparing to travel through the expressway, the chances of making a successful journey through that road is 50-50, although security has been beefed up on the highway with military checkpoints.
On June 7, 2022, a photographer attached to the Press Unit, Government House Abakaliki, Ebonyi State, Uchenna Nwube was attacked by the gunmen. He was kidnapped and held hostage for over seven days until he was released after payment of ransom. He was attacked at 7:pm. Till today, Nwube hardly plies that road.
On 19th June, 2023, a senior staffer of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Emmanuel Igwe was shot dead on the same axis. His wife, who is also an INEC staff, was abducted by the gunmen. Igwe was attached to Afikpo North Local Government Area of Ebonyi state as an Assistant Electoral Officer of INEC. He and the wife were returning from Abia State when the incident occurred.
Gunmen also operate in Obingwa Local Government Area of Abia State. The gunmen have killed many persons in the area, forcing some survivors to relocate to nearby communities and states.
Mrs Janet Alozie, who relocated to Abakaliki following the killing of her husband, Ogbonna Alozie is still in sorrow over the demise of her husband.
“My husband was killed by gunmen in August 2024 in Obingwa. We are from Umuahia but we were living in Obingwa. We are farmers; that’s why we were living in Obingwa.
“On that fateful day, we were attacked in our farm while harvesting cassava. We didn’t know it was a sit-at-home day. The gunmen wore masks and they were carrying guns. They were on motorcycle and when they saw us in the farm which is by the road side, they stopped. One of them asked why we came to farm, whether we didn’t know that there was sit-at-home.
“When my husband tried to explain to them that we didn’t know, one of them immediately shot him twice on the chest and they left us immediately.
“I cried like a baby that day and no one came to my rescue. It was the saddest day in my life and nothing will make me to go back to Obingwa again. I am living in this Abakaliki now because my husband’s brother took me and my children to Ebonyi State where he resides. We were taken to Ebonyi State immediately after my husband burial,” she told Saturday Sun.
Enugu
Enugu State has also witnessed attacks and killings by gunmen, but it is not on the same scale as the killings in the other four South East states.
On 22nd February, 2023, Oyibo Chukwu, the senatorial candidate of the Labour Party for Enugu East senatorial zone, was killed and burnt in Amechi Awkunanaw while returning from a campaign tour.
The gunmen also killed his five supporters who were in a campaign car with him and set the car ablaze. The killing brought sorrow to the people of the state and beyond.
Other killings in the state, especially Izi-Uzo and Ehanufu, where many lives have been lost and property worth billions of naira destroyed, are attributed to herdsmen.
1, 844 killed in two years –Report
Amnesty International has revealed that a total of 1,844 persons were killed in the South East by state and non-state actors between January 2021 and June 2023.
Director of the organisation, Isa Sanusi disclosed this in Enugu on 7th October, 2025 during report presentation and campaign launch against insecurity in the region tagged “a decade of impunity: Attacks and unlawful killings in South East.”
He noted that the persistent failure of the federal government to address the security crisis in the zone, created a free-for-all reign of impunity, leading to the killings of people of the region by the state and non-state actors.
He urged the federal government to begin to address the security crisis in the zone by carrying out transparent, impartial and effective investigation of the killings, assassinations, enforced disappearances and other atrocities committed by the state and non-state actors in the zone since August 2015 till date.
Isa opined that the brutal clampdown on pro-Biafra protests from August 2015, plunged the South- East region into the endless cycle of bloodshed which has created a climate of fear and left many communities vulnerable.
He alleged that gunmen killed over 400 people in Imo State between January 2019 and December 2021.
“Assassinations of prominent personalities and attacks on highways b, security personnel and facilities are chilling reminders of the region’s insecurity.
“Insecurity in South- East Nigeria has affected people’s rights including the rights to life, physical integrity, security, liberty and freedom of movement.
“Many people have not travelled to their hometowns for several years for fear of attack or abduction. Traditional marriage and burial ceremonies that were normally conducted in people’s ancestral homes now mostly take place in other communities outside the South-East due to attack by the gunmen.
“Gunmen have turned some communities into “ungoverned spaces”, by sacking traditional rulers, displacing residents, and taking total control of communities, including Agway and Izombe in the Oguta Local Government Area of Imo State and Lilu in Ihiala Local Government Area of Anambra State”, he lamented
Isa said despite the scale of the atrocities against the people of the zone, justice and adequate reparations have eluded victims of the violence.
“During military operations in the South East, Nigerian security agencies, including the military and police, committed unlawful killings, arbitrary arrests and detention, torture, enforced disappearances, and destruction of property.
“Despite the scale of the torture against the people, justice and adequate reparations have eluded victims of the violence.
”The Nigerian authorities must uphold their constitutional human rights obligations by guaranteeing, protecting and ensuring the rights to life, physical integrity, and liberty security and safety of the people and stemming the tide of rampant insecurity in South East region.
“Authorities must undertake prompt, thorough, independent, impartial, transparent and effective investigations into all allegations of violations and abuses committed by state and non-state actors in the region,” he said.
Killings, destructions have ruined South East economy –Don
Felix Asogwa, a Professor of International Relations and Strategic Studies at the University of Nigeria (UNN), Enugu decried the killings, maiming and destructions in the region.
He said the activities of the gunmen have created an atmosphere of fear, sorrow and hardship in South East.
Asogwa predicted that there will be massive hunger in the zone in the near future following the operations of the gunmen in the area.
“Even in terms of food security, it is no more tenable. I am expecting that in the near future, there will be massive hunger because the farmers can no more farm. So, how does individuals exist if sufficient food is not produced?
“Today in Nigeria, humanity has lost its value. In all the basic ingredients of human security, starting from personal security, life has come to mean nothing, massive killings, massive dispossession of individual’s right and so on.
“Even in terms of economic security, the South East has gone so low. There is massive capital and human flight from South East of Nigeria because of this pervasive culture of insecurity.
“Even in terms of food security, it is no more tenable. I am expecting that in the near future, there will be massive hunger because the farmers can no more farm. So, how do individuals exist if sufficient food is not produced? The foundation of any society is anchored on the availability of food. In the South East, it is becoming impossible,” he said.
Traditional rulers demand state police, accuse governors of incapacitation
The traditional rulers in the zone have described governors of the region as lacking capacity in tackling the insecurity in the area. They called for the adoption of state police to tackle the menace.
At their meeting in Abakaliki, Ebonyi State capital recently, the monarchs lamented the security situation in the zone and urged the governors to rise to the occasion.
They emphasised the urgent need for decisive action against the security situation in the south east to ensure safety of lives and property
Chairman of the South East traditional rulers council, His Royal Majesty, Ndubuisi Okeke said state policing remains the only viable solution to the alarming increase in kidnapping, ritual killings and other criminal activities in the region.
He maintained that state policing will help restore the lost glory of the South East. Okeke assured that the traditional rulers, in collaboration with security agencies, were committed to tackling the security challenges facing communities in the South East and called for concerted efforts to end insecurity in the zone.
“State policing is the best thing that can happen to the South East because the governors are incapacitated. They can’t give orders to be obeyed. The order must come from Abuja for them to obey
“If we have state policing, security issues will be completely nipped in the bud because no state governor in the zone will like his state to be rubbished,” he stated.
On his part, traditional ruler of Abaomege community, Ebonyi State, Augustine Ikechi said the traditional rulers in the zone have been working very hard to ensure that insecurity becomes a thing of the past.
FG must demonstrate strong political will to end menace –Bishop
A cleric, Rev. Pau Udogu admonished the federal government to demonstrate strong political will to tackle the menace.
Udogu who is the Bishop, Church of Nigeria, Anglican Diocese of Afikpo, Ebonyi State , said the security challenges in the region has affected its economy adversely, particularly in the area of agriculture, resulting in decreased productivity, loss of revenue and increased poverty levels in the zone and the country in general.
Speaking to Saturday Sun during the 7th synod of the Diocese in Oso Edda, Edda Local Government Area of the state, the cleric urged the governors in the zone to prioritise protection of lives of the people of the zone and expose sponsors of insecurity.
He called for an improved security in the zone and in the entire nation for an improved economy.
“If the security challenges in South East and the entire country improve today, our economy will also be improved.
“We want to also to reiterate that the responsibility of achieving a secured society should not be left to the government and our security agencies alone, Communities, villages, town unions, streets, even market associations should rise to this challenge and do the needful,” he said.
