Tiger Base, tragedy of Nigeria’s flawed democracy

By Okechukwu Nwanguma

The celebration of “Democracy Day” just yesterday rang hollow for many of us who live with the daily trauma of state-sanctioned violence, injustice, and impunity.

While some paraded the streets of Owerri in praise of a government that has failed to protect them, others—especially our youth—languish in detention cells or lie in shallow graves, victims of extrajudicial killings carried out at Tiger Base in Owerri.

The atrocities committed daily at Tiger Base are not just tragic—they are terrifying and suspicious. For years, human rights defenders, journalists, and residents have cried out against the horror stories emanating from this notorious facility.

Allegations of torture, enforced disappearances, secret detentions, and summary executions have been well documented. And yet, silence—deafening, deliberate silence—from both the federal and Imo State governments continues to shield this criminality.

What exactly is Tiger Base—and Who protects it?

Tiger Base is officially an outpost of a security formation supposedly tasked with “combating crime” and “fighting insecurity” in Imo State. But the question Nigerians must now ask—and keep asking—is: What insecurity has it solved? Whom has it truly protected?

In reality, rather than reducing insecurity, Tiger Base has created new layers of fear and repression. Gunmen still launch brazen attacks on communities. Killings continue. People disappear. Criminal networks thrive. And the supposed stronghold of security has become a symbol of terror and lawlessness. So again, we ask: who benefits from this brutal apparatus? What is the real intention behind Tiger Base?

A Government afraid of its citizens

The irony of yesterday’s June 12 celebration cannot be overstated. It is a day set aside to remember the struggle against dictatorship, a day meant to reaffirm our commitment to democracy and civil liberty. But instead, we saw youth dancing in the streets of Owerri not in protest of oppression, but in praise of a government complicit in it.

We must ask ourselves: how did we get here? How did a day that should memorialize resistance become a festival of denial? Why are the victims of anti-democratic abuses now applauding the very regime that fails to protect them?

Let’s be clear: a democracy that cannot guarantee the safety and dignity of its citizens is a lie. It is not democracy—it is democrazy, a hollow system that mimics democratic form but functions as tyranny in practice. When the state unleashes or condones violence against its people—especially the young, the poor, and the outspoken—it has crossed the line from protector to predator.

Citizens must refuse to be fooled

We cannot claim to be in a democracy if state agents can detain citizens without charge, torture them behind closed doors, and dump their bodies in secret graves—only for the government to pretend it sees nothing and knows nothing.

We cannot clap for our oppressors and expect them to stop oppressing us. We cannot be silent while our peers disappear, and then act shocked when we become the next target.

The youth of Owerri and all Nigerians must wake up. We must stop praising politicians who fear accountability. We must start organizing and speaking out—not just online, but in the streets, in our communities, and the halls of power.

There can be no democracy without justice

The first duty of any democratic government is to protect life and liberty. If a state facility like Tiger Base is allowed to operate like a death squad outpost, unchecked and unaccountable, then we must say without hesitation: we are not yet in a democracy.

Democracy demands transparency. It demands accountability. It demands citizen action. If Tiger Base continues to operate in the shadows, with the blood of innocents on its floor, then the government must be called to account—not celebrated.

This is not a time for praise songs. It is a time for mourning. It is a time for questions. And it is a time to demand answers.

Who is behind Tiger Base?

Why are our people still dying in their hands?

And why is no one being held responsible?

Until we answer these questions and act on them, Democracy Day will remain a cruel joke—an insult to those who truly believe in freedom, justice, and the dignity of the Nigerian people.

Nwanguma is a Human Rights advocate committed to social justice and law enforcement accountability in Nigeria.