YAOUNDÉ, Cameroon – A Catholic-inspired civil rights group has said the South-East of Nigeria witnessed a surge in violence, abductions, and extortions during the 2024 Christmas and 2025 New Year holidays.

In a statement January 31 that was sent to Crux, the International Society for Civil Liberties and the Rule of Law, Intersociety accused the Nigerian security agencies as well as non-state armed groups of killing at least 180 civilians in the South-East within the Months of December 2024 and January 2025.

It said armed non-state actors took responsibility for at least 140 defenseless civilian deaths, while the security forces “accounted for not less than 40 civilian deaths across the South-East during the period.”

“The 40 civilian deaths in the hands of the security forces represented those killed outside the law or due process and their killings ‘weaponized’ to justify their atrocious killing,” the statement says.

The statement reported that civilians were forced to part with approximately $15 million through extortion by security agencies and ransoms paid to armed non-state actors.

“The deployed personnel of the Nigerian Armed Forces and the Nigeria Police Force, along with their High Commands in the South-East, seized at gunpoint no less than N21.8 billion ($14 million) from motorists, other road users, and those who came into contact with them in their barracks between December 1, 2024, and January 31, 2025,” the Intersociety statement notes.

“This sum represents ‘criminal billions’ drawn from direct and indirect roadblock and barracks extortions, numbering over twenty sources and seized from members of the civilian population with legitimate means of livelihood who were extorted while preparing for or returning from the 2024 Christmas and 2025 New Year holidays or heading back to their bases after the holidays,” it continues.

The statement further accused the security agencies of mindlessly perpetrating “a trio of armed state actors conduct-atrocities in the Region: abductions, unlawful killings, and corrupt practices of alarming proportion.”

It stated that there were at least 300 direct military roadblocks, and 500 patrol teams or indirect roadblocks mounted on South-East roads, with 98 percent engaging in direct and indirect roadblock extortions using publicly procured assault rifles, ammunition, and patrol vans. On average, each roadblock extorted thousands from civilians daily.

“These extortions and allied corrupt practices by military personnel are contrary to Section 108 of the Armed Forces Act of 2004, which prescribes fourteen years imprisonment for any military personnel found guilty of extortion.”

The report also criticized the Nigerian Police Force, accusing it of criminally pocketing millions of dollars within the two-month period.

It stated that the 2,500 roadblocks on South-East roads served as signposts for police extortion, with extortion at gunpoint also occurring at police barracks.

Besides the security agencies, the population of Nigeria’s South East found themselves at the mercy of kidnappers, who, according to Intersociety, criminally seized nearly a million dollars within two months.

In just 20 days – December 28-January 18 – a period that falls squarely within the Christmas and New Year festive season, non-state actors operating with assault rifles and criminal digital devices in Anambra, Imo, Enugu, and other areas seized nearly half a million dollars from holidaymakers and returnees.

The statement cites several notable individuals who were kidnapped during this period, including a Reverend Father whose friends and associates had to pay N20 million in ransom for his release. Two Catholic Nuns were also abducted on January 7, 2025, along Ufuma Road in Orumba North, and were freed six days later, although it was unclear whether ransoms were paid for their release.

The statement further notes that over 200 defenseless civilians were abducted in Nigeria’s South East within the two-month period.

The abductions, according to the statement, were carried out by Nigerian security forces – military personnel, police crack squads, and sub-state vigilantes – as well as Jihadist Fulani Herdsmen and allied groups.

It stated that “160 were abducted by armed non-state actors and 40 others abducted by security forces and taken to unknown destinations without the knowledge of their families or official records.”

“Many of the 40 abductees by security forces were taken away unlawfully by military personnel, while the others went missing in the custody of police crack squads,” the statement continues.

Emeka Umeagbalasi, Board Chair of Intersociety, told Crux that many cases of kidnappings, killings, and extortions might never be recorded, representing what he calls the “dark figures of crime.”

He added that those killed, abducted, or extorted “are predominantly Christian,” highlighting the difficulties Christians face in Nigeria.