Abia/Anambra/Ebonyi/Enugu/Imo States — November 11, 2025 | Dalena Reporters
A comprehensive investigation by Amnesty International reveals that at least 1,844 people were killed across Nigeria’s South-East region between January 2021 and June 2023, a death toll that includes a traditional ruler and underscores what the rights group calls “a decade of impunity” in the area.
Covering the five States of Abia, Anambra, Ebonyi, Enugu and Imo, the landmark report documents killings attributed to “unknown gunmen”, local militias and state government -backed security operations. Among the most harrowing cases cited is the assassination of HRH Eze Ignatius Asor of Obudu Agwa in Imo State, who, along with two visiting elders, was executed in his palace on 14 November 2022 when a convoy of about 30 armed men reportedly arrived in Sienna buses, opened fire in the courtyard, and fled without any known arrests.
The Amnesty report portrays the security crisis as multifaceted: it links the wave of violence to the enforcement of sit-at-home orders proclaimed and while also implicating deeply rooted state-actors including the regional paramilitary outfit known as Ebube Agu in abuses such as arbitrary arrest, torture and extrajudicial executions.
Imo State emerges as the epicentre of the violence, reporting in excess of 400 deaths between 2019 and 2021 alone — a figure threatened to rise further when recent incidents are included. In one community cited in the report, unwitting residents described the area as “ungoverned space”, where traditional authorities have collapsed and gunmen levy extortion fees, loot livestock and impose fear nightly.
The report urges the federal and state governments to take urgent steps: establish independent judicial panels to investigate the killings, ensure compensation to victims’ families and stop the blurred lines between legitimate security operations and impunity. “Security must not come at the cost of human rights,” Amnesty warns.
As violence continues to claim lives and erode trust in institutions, the South-East region faces a deepening humanitarian and governance crisis. How authorities respond — whether through reform, accountability or escalation — will shape whether the region stabilises or slides further into disorder.