By Emmanuel Onwubiko
The Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria (HURIWA) has launched a blistering condemnation of the Nigerian Army over what it described as its most troubling era for human rights, accusing the military high command of attempting to justify the unlawful killing of a civilian and progressively eroding public confidence in civil–military accountability.
HURIWA’s reaction followed a formal response by the Nigerian Army defending the actions of a soldier, Lance Corporal Sefiu Ibrahim, over the death of Mr. Ugochukwu Oghenekaro Bonny, who was fatally stabbed at the gate of a private estate in Warri, Delta State, on October 12, 2025. The rights group said the Army’s explanation not only trivialised the sanctity of civilian life but also raised fundamental questions about the rules governing military deployments and the use of force in civilian environments.
In a statement issued in Abuja, HURIWA said it was alarmed that a trained soldier was deployed to function as a guard in a private estate, asking under what constitutional or operational framework military personnel are now assigned to perform duties traditionally reserved for licensed private security or civil law enforcement. The group warned that the creeping militarisation of civilian spaces is breeding impunity and avoidable loss of life.
According to HURIWA, the circumstances surrounding Mr. Bonny’s death remain deeply troubling. The deceased, who had reportedly gone to visit a friend, was involved in an altercation at the estate gate which, by all accounts, should never have escalated into lethal violence. HURIWA said it was unconscionable that a soldier allegedly drew a jack-knife and stabbed a civilian to death at close range, yet the Army now seeks to cloak the incident with the language of self-defence.
The association questioned the internal logic of the Army’s position, asking why, if the soldier’s life was truly under imminent threat, a jack-knife rather than a service rifle was allegedly used, and how a claim of attempted disarmament could stand where eyewitnesses reportedly insist that the soldier was not carrying a firearm at the time. HURIWA said these contradictions cast serious doubt on the credibility of the Army’s narrative and underscored the need for an independent, civilian-led investigation.
HURIWA further challenged the Army to make public any objective evidence backing its claims, including CCTV footage from the estate where the killing occurred, noting that transparency is the minimum requirement in a case involving the loss of civilian life. It warned that institutional self-clearing investigations, without public scrutiny, only deepen perceptions that the military now sees itself as judge and jury in cases of alleged abuse.
The rights group said it has already facilitated contact between the bereaved family and renowned human rights lawyer, Mr. Femi Falana, SAN, who has indicated his willingness to take up the matter. According to HURIWA, the family will formally brief counsel in preparation for legal action aimed at testing the Army’s claims before a competent court of law.
Beyond the Warri incident, HURIWA said the killing reflects a broader climate of alleged impunity within Nigeria’s security architecture. It pointed to ongoing allegations surrounding the Tiger Base facility in Owerri, Imo State, where human rights coalitions have raised grave concerns about unlawful detention practices and further alleged that the facility is being run as an organ harvesting clinic targeting young men picked up from the streets. HURIWA stressed that these allegations remain matters of serious public concern requiring urgent, independent and international investigation, not silence or dismissal by authorities.
HURIWA lamented what it described as the collapse of domestic accountability mechanisms, saying Nigerians increasingly feel abandoned by institutions meant to safeguard their rights. It described the National Human Rights Commission as weakened and ineffective in the face of mounting allegations against state actors, and accused political leadership of failing to prioritise human rights protection.
Consequently, HURIWA called on the international community, including the United Nations Human Rights Council and the government of the United States, to closely scrutinise Nigeria’s human rights record and to speak out against alleged extra-judicial killings by security agencies. The group said history has shown that firm international attention can jolt authorities into action, recalling how external pressure in the past forced official responses to grave security concerns.
HURIWA stressed that its demands are not driven by hostility to the military but by a commitment to the rule of law and the protection of innocent lives. It warned that a military perceived as excusing civilian deaths under contested claims of self-defence risks losing moral authority and public trust. Justice for Mr. Ugochukwu Oghenekaro Bonny, the group said, has now become a defining test of whether the Nigerian Army remains bound by constitutional restraint or has drifted into a culture of force without accountability.
*Comrade Emmanuel Onwubiko,
National Coordinator,
Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria (HURIWA)
December 20 2025.
