Families in Anambra and Imo States say they are now forced to pay levies to gunmen before burying their loved ones, a chilling new layer of insecurity that has gripped the South-East. The revelations came during the relaunch of Amnesty International’s report on extrajudicial killings, held Thursday in Ikeja, Lagos.
Dr. Dominic Okoli, Palace Secretary of Lilu community in Anambra, recounted how his once-peaceful town has been transformed into a haven for armed groups. According to him, over 25 residents have been killed and more than 30 houses destroyed since 2020. Schools and health centres have shut down, leaving children out of classrooms and residents without basic medical care. “Before you bury a relative, you must first pay the gunmen,” Okoli lamented. “They have banned funerals. Families only pay to carry out burials.”
He likened Lilu to a “Sambisa forest of the South-East,” warning that unchecked criminality has plunged families into fear and extreme hardship. The situation has created a humanitarian crisis, with locals describing their existence as life under siege.
In Imo State, the situation is no different. Mr. Nduka Ozor, a community leader from Agwa in Oguta Local Government, said families are extorted to the tune of ₦500,000 before being allowed to bury their dead. He narrated how his brother—the community’s monarch—was killed alongside a pregnant woman, with properties worth over ₦1 billion reduced to rubble. “These are not strangers,” Ozor stressed. “They are our own boys, moving freely without masks, killing and destroying.”
The Country Director of Amnesty International, Isa Sanusi, described the scale of the killings in the South-East as “unquantifiable” and urged the Federal Government to launch independent, transparent investigations into abuses by both state and non-state actors. He insisted that authorities must go beyond rhetoric to restore security and protect communities.
Despite interventions by security agencies, community leaders say relief has been minimal. Killings and abductions persist: between July and August alone, at least 12 people were murdered in Imo, while in Anambra, three siblings were abducted in Amansea—one of them killed after resisting kidnappers. Calls for stronger security presence and immediate government action are growing louder.
The Anambra Police Command has yet to respond to inquiries on the alleged burial levies. But across the South-East, residents warn that unless urgent steps are taken, insecurity will continue to hollow out communities already scarred by violence, poverty, and grief.
