By Jeff Agbodo
ABUJA — Human rights organisation, International Society for Civil Liberties and Rule of Law, Intersociety, has attributed what it described as the reluctance of Igbo youths to enlist in the Nigerian military to alleged cases of missing persons involving military personnel in the South-East.
Intersociety claimed that more than 6,000 Igbo families were searching for their sons and daughters allegedly taken away in controversial circumstances by military personnel between January 2021 and July 2026.
The group made the allegations in a report jointly released with the United States-based Ekwenche Research Institute, which also claimed that at least 299 Nigerian Christians were killed and 213 others abducted across the country in July 2026.
The report, signed by officials of both organisations, alleged that cases of abduction, disappearance, unlawful killings and what it described as false labelling had contributed to distrust among youths in the South-East.
According to the report, “not less than 6,000 Igbo Land South-East families have not traced alive or dead their beloved sons and daughters of productive age-brackets who went missing in the hands of the Nigerian military officers and personnel.”
It further claimed that 70 per cent of the victims allegedly disappeared after being taken to military detention facilities, while 20 per cent and 10 per cent were attributed to the police and Department of State Services, DSS, respectively.
The organisations also claimed that more than 5,000 other unarmed citizens of the former Eastern Nigeria allegedly abducted by security agencies during pro-Biafra self-determination protests between August 30, 2015 and July 2026 had not been traced by their families or lawyers.
The report alleged that thousands of civilians were killed or died in custody during security operations in the South-East, while accusing security agencies of attributing most crimes in the region to the Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, and its security arm, the Eastern Security Network, ESN.
It cited the military operations in Abia State in September 2017 as one of the earliest major incidents involving alleged mass killings and disappearances.
The report also alleged that about 400 South-East Judeo-Christian civilians were abducted by the military in the first seven months of 2026, with their whereabouts allegedly unknown.
On the wider security situation, the organisations claimed that at least 299 Christians were killed by what they described as Islamic jihadists in July, while 213 others were abducted.
Benue was said to have recorded the highest number of alleged Christian deaths, with 65 killed and 30 abducted, followed by Southern Kaduna, where 58 were allegedly killed and 70 abducted.
Plateau recorded 55 alleged deaths and 10 abductions, while Adamawa recorded 35 deaths and Niger 30 deaths, according to the report.
The organisations also alleged attacks on communities in Enugu, Anambra, Imo, Abia and Ebonyi states by armed herders, citing Ezeagu, Isi-Uzo, Uzo-Uwani and Nkanu East local government areas in Enugu as particularly affected.
They alleged that several communities had been displaced and that places of worship had also been attacked.
However, as of the time of filing this report, security agencies had not responded to the allegations contained in the report.
The post 6,000 Igbo families still searching for missing sons, daughters — Intersociety appeared first on Vanguard News.