State-Sponsored Murder: How Nigeria's DSS Killed Mrs. Calista Ifedi – Over 24,000 Igbo Disappeared

 State-Sponsored Murder: How Nigeria's DSS Killed Mrs. Calista Ifedi – Over 24,000 Igbo Disappeared The Nigerian government and its Depa...

 State-Sponsored Murder: How Nigeria's DSS Killed Mrs. Calista Ifedi – Over 24,000 Igbo Disappeared

The Nigerian government and its Department of State Services (DSS) stand as glaring symbols of unchecked tyranny, perpetrating illegal detentions, torture, and blatant human rights violations that have claimed countless innocent lives. The recent confirmation of Mrs. Calista Ifedi's death in DSS custody exemplifies this barbarism—a woman abducted from her home in Enugu on November 23, 2021, alongside her husband, Sunday Ifedi, for the "crime" of allegedly selling food to members of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB). Held without due process at the infamous Wawa Barracks, she fell ill, was denied medical care, taunted, and ultimately suffocated to death under conditions of extreme neglect and brutality. Her body has yet to be produced for an autopsy, and her husband, released only in December 2025 after years of torment, was never informed of her fate until activists like Omoyele Sowore broke the news. This is not justice; it is state-sponsored murder, a horrifying echo of the impunity that defines Nigeria's security apparatus under leaders like former DSS Director Yusuf Bichi and the Muhammadu Buhari regime.

The Nigerian government's illegal proscription of IPOB in 2017 as a terrorist organization has served as a convenient pretext for these atrocities, enabling the forced disappearances and extrajudicial killings of thousands from the Igbo ethnic group. By labeling a peaceful self-determination movement one rooted in legitimate grievances over marginalization and the Biafran War's unresolved scars—as "terrorist," the state has unleashed a wave of repression in the South-East. This designation has fueled extra-judicial actions, with security operatives abducting civilians on flimsy suspicions, detaining them in secret facilities like Wawa Barracks, and erasing them from existence. Reports from Amnesty International detail how this clampdown has plunged the region into bloodshed, with thousands killed and hundreds forcibly disappeared in just two years following pro-Biafra protests. Broader claims indicate over 24,000 Igbo people have been disappeared by Nigerian security operatives since 2015, a staggering toll that underscores the ethnic targeting at play. These are not isolated incidents but a deliberate campaign to suppress Igbo voices demanding self-determination.

Mrs. Ifedi's case is a tragic microcosm of this genocide-like pattern. Arrested without warrant, denied legal access, and left to die in isolation, her story mirrors the fates of countless others. Eyewitness accounts from similar detentions reveal torture, starvation, and vanishings in places like Imo State's Tiger Base, where detainees often labeled IPOB sympathizers are held incommunicado. Ohanaeze Ndigbo has documented 513 Igbo killings, 2,436 arrests, and 854 missing in a mere 160 days. Lists of disappeared individuals, such as Ikechukwu Henry, Joy Godwin Udoh, and dozens more from Igbo and related communities, highlight the scale: abducted from homes, shops, or while traveling, then vanished into military or DSS black sites without trial or family contact. The government's denial of abductions, even as bodies pile up, is a mockery of humanity.

It is time for the global community to act. The United States, with its commitment to human rights, must investigate the systematic disappearance of the Igbo ethnic nationality by the Nigerian state. Satellite surveillance, independent probes, and diplomatic pressure are essential to uncover the truth behind facilities like Wawa Barracks and hold perpetrators accountable. Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International, and the United Nations should impose targeted sanctions on Nigeria freezing assets of officials like Bichi and Malami, restricting visas, and suspending aid until these abuses cease. The world cannot ignore this; campaigns by groups like Amnesty Nigeria have screamed for justice, yet the DSS denies and deflects.

Nigeria's tragedy is one of a failed state that weaponized security against its own people. Mrs. Calista Ifedi deserved life, dignity, and freedom not death in a torture chamber for feeding the hungry. Shut down Wawa Barracks, prosecute those responsible, and end the proscription-fueled terror. The global community, demand nothing less.

Family Writers Press International.