Amnesty International Raises Alarm Over Disappearance Of Abia Man Abducted By Security Agents Since 2021
Global human rights organization Amnesty International has expressed concern over the continued disappearance of Eberechi Ukaegbu, a father of five from Alaukwu-Umuoma in Obingwa Local Government Area of Abia State, who was allegedly abducted by security agents from his home in 2021.
Amnesty International, in a statement issued on Saturday night, said that suspected security agents abducted Ukaegbu from his residence in Alaukwu-Umuoma, Obingwa Local Government Area of Abia state in March 2021, at about 1:30 am over an allegation of being a member of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB).
According to the human rights organisation, Ukaegbu was abducted when he was about 50 years old.
Amnesty International said that since his disappearance, Ukaegbu has not been seen, leaving his wife and five children helpless and frustrated.
The organisation quoted Ukaegbu’s 38-year-old sister, who narrated the harrowing experience of her brother’s abduction and disappearance, as saying, “They [security agents] came at night at about 1:30 am, well-armed with AK-47s, shouting, ‘Open the gate!’
“We were so frightened. No one could go and open the gate. They forcefully broke into the compound and took my brother.”
Ukaegbu’s sister said, “We have been to many places to search for him; we have gone to Aba in Abia state. We have gone to several police stations.”
According to her, the police in the state said they have no record of Ukaegbu.
“We have also been to the DSS (Department of State Services) office, and they said they have no record of such a person in their custody.
Ukaegbu’s sister lamented, “My brother is married with five children. His wife and children are still in his residence. His family has been highly affected by the void created by his abduction.”
In August 2025, SaharaReporters, quoting a latest report by Amnesty International, revealed that both government-backed forces and armed groups had been responsible for a decade-long violent attacks and killings of over 1,800 people and widespread human rights abuses in Nigeria’s South-East.
In the report titled ‘A Decade of Impunity: Attacks and Unlawful Killings in South-East Nigeria’, the global human rights advocacy organisation said the report documented human rights violations and abuses committed by various state and non-state actors in the South-East between January 2021 and December 2024.
The report stated, “The actors concerned include the state-backed paramilitary outfit, commonly referred to as ‘Ebube Agu’, and members of the defence and security forces.
“The non-state actors include the Eastern Security Network (ESN), the militant arm of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), ‘unknown gunmen’, cult groups, and vigilante group members.”
According to Amnesty International, the period witnessed “violence, unlawful killings, attacks, torture and other ill-treatment, enforced disappearances, arbitrary arrests and detention, internal displacements, and suppression of the right to freedom of movement.”
The organisation estimated that “between January 2021 and June 2023, over 1,844 people were killed in the South-East region of Nigeria,” while attacks on security agents by gunmen “led to the unlawful killing of security agents and residents.”