The 1967 Asaba Massacre

Culled

Stanley Okafor, then a university student, described how he and several relatives were summoned by troops: “we got to the police station and there was a huge crowd. And then they would come around and they would say do you know Mr. X, Mr. B, and do you know his house? They had names they wanted to kill. And once in a while they’d pick someone from the crowd, go to the back and you hear gunshots. And the crowd would wail.” Patience Chukwura, a young mother expecting her fourth child, saw her husband Eddie gunned down near the police station, along with his brother, Christian: “That made me hysterical.

I held onto the soldier and said, ‘Why did you kill my husband?’ The man, with the butt of the gun, hit me on the chest and said, ‘woman, if you’re not careful, you’ll get killed as well.’ We feared they were going to wipe out everybody in Asaba, especially male children.” Troops invaded homes, demanding money, executing men and boys, and abducting women, often before setting the houses ablaze. The streets were littered with corpses. Patrick Okonkwo recalled that his compound was crowded with extended family members, when soldiers entered and shot his two brothers, a cousin, and two other relatives. His father buried them in shallow graves in the compound. On October 7, in hopes of avoiding more violence, Asaba leaders summoned everyone to gather to show support to the troops by making a pledge to One Nigeria.

Hundreds of men, women, and children assembled, dancing and singing. According to survivors, as the parade reached a major junction, troops removed women and young children, and directed men and boys into an open area. As the crowd began to realize what might be happening, panic grew, as Peter Okonjo explained: “Women who came with their sons were removing their skirts and blouses to disguise them. And I looked at the whole place, there is nowhere to escape.” Ify Uraih was 13 years old, and had joined the parade with his brothers and father. He described how the officer in charge, identified by several witnesses as Ibrahim Taiwo, gave the order to open fire, and the massacre began: “Some people broke loose and tried to run away. They shot my brother in the back. The rest of us just fell down on top of each other.

And they continued shooting, and shooting, and shooting. I don’t know how long it took; after some time there was silence.” Hundreds died; survivors report climbing from among heaps of bodies when the soldiers finally left hours later. Ify Uraih survived, but his father, Robert, and brothers Emma and Paul were dead. His brother Medua was shot multiple times, but survived. Between 500 and 800 were murdered, in addition to many from previous days, and many people fled the town. Although there is no firm death count, our research suggests that more than 1,000 died at the hands of the troops during October. Most were buried in mass graves, without observing requisite practices, and the town was destroyed, with most of the houses looted and burned. The long-term impacts of these tragic events were profound; many extended families lost multiple breadwinners, and the town’s leadership was decimated. Survivor accounts and reports by relief agencies show that Asaba remained in dire straits until the war’s end, most inhabitants having fled or subsisting in refugee camps.

Soldiers assaulted and abducted women and girls with impunity. The destruction was so complete that Asaba disappeared from the official roll of Nigerian towns in 1969. The atrocities at Asaba remained virtually absent from the published record, and have largely remained unacknowledged. A major reason was lack of media coverage at the time. Of course Biafra became world-famous, but its public, international narrative developed after the retreat of the Biafrans across the Niger, after which the federal government imposed a blockade, effectively starving the East into submission, and searing the images of emaciated children into the international memory of the War. This contrasts with the lack of attention in 1967, when the Midwest people suffered most. The Federal government suppressed accounts of military action against civilians in the Midwest, and the international media were carefully managed. The 1967 massacres received almost no press coverage at the time. In later historical accounts, the Asaba events, if mentioned at all, are usually dismissed as aberrant or unproven. In 2001, some Asaba survivors testified to the Nigerian Human Rights Violations Investigation Commission (HRVIC, or Oputa Panel), commissioned by President Olusegun Obasanjo, and charged to consider the history of human rights abuses from 1966 to May 1999, of which civil war events were part.

The Asaba accounts were included in the Ohaneze Petition, presented by Barrister Chuck Nduka-Eze, and drawing on earlier research by Emma Okocha, as well as testimonies recorded in 1969. The HRVIC’s report was never officially released, although it is now available on the internet. Obasanjo declined to offer formal apologies, although in a landmark moment, Gowon publicly apologized to the people of Asaba in 2002, opening the door to further efforts at truth and reconciliation. After the Oputa Panel, Asaba leaders formed a committee to develop a memorial process, seeking an academic partnership to research the history of the event objectively. We responded, and with the support of our university’s Holocaust and Genocide Studies Center, have been researching the events of 1967 and beyond.

Our work is based on an array of sources, including archival collections on both sides of the Atlantic, as well as videotaped interviews with almost 80 people. Most are direct witnesses and survivors, while others testified about the long-term impacts on Asaba. They were interviewed in several locations – Asaba, Lagos, Ibadan, Benin City, and the United States, and their stories produce a compelling, detailed, and consistent account of the atrocities that befell their town. Our research has produced several interrelated conclusions. First, it shows that the killings in Asaba were unprovoked, and stemmed directly from a chain of events that started before the war, continuing through the Biafran offensive across the Niger, which stirred up simmering ethnic hatred that had previously resulted in violence toward Igbos.

Why should urhobo itsekiri weep for what happen in another land
Wetin concern them

immortalityk:
[s]Why should urhobo itsekiri weep for what happen in another land
Wetin concern them[/s]

oh my goodness, why can't Yoruba Muslims leave us alone, is it a crime to mourn for our people.

Ibrahim Taiwo the killer machine

It hurts me to see this, the effects of hate and pogrom cannot be overemphasized.
Seeing the number of illiterates in the country, they are like caged lions waiting to be released to unleash mayhem.


I support the disintegration of any region from this country but through diplomatic process. It might seem impossible but we need to understand that the devastating effects of war is a great undoing.


You learn from History or we are all doomed to repeat it.

Frankdoz5:
oh my goodness, why can't Yoruba Muslims leave us alone, is it a crime to mourn for our people.

U are being mischievous with your attache
Asaba is igbo land
Why calling other minority ethnic groups
The title should read Igbos in asaba let's mourn

immortalityk:

U are being mischievous with your attache
Asaba is igbo land
Why calling other minority ethnic groups
The title should read Igbos in asaba let's mourn

Today you accepted Asaba to be Igboland.I see,I thought there are no Igbos in South South.

Ojiofor:


Today you accepted Asaba to be Igboland.I see,I thought there are no Igbos in South South.

Lol Ive always accepted all those places as igbo land
Maybe u are talking about other yorubas on nairaland but not me
Asaba port Harcourt igbanke etc is Igbo land to me
What will I gain in denying its not
When I also claim kwara and Kogi west
When I'm not mad

immortalityk:

Lol Ive always accepted all those places as igbo land
Maybe u are talking about other yorubas on nairaland but not me
Asaba port Harcourt igbanke etc is Igbo land to me
What will I gain in denying its not
When I also claim kwara and Kogi west
When I'm not mad

finally someone who not in denial.

immortalityk:

Lol Ive always accepted all those places as igbo land
Maybe u are talking about other yorubas on nairaland but not me
Asaba port Harcourt igbanke etc is Igbo land to me
What will I gain in denying its not
When I also claim kwara and Kogi west
When I'm not mad

You are honest Yoruba man if that is the case.
But don't bring politics were people are mourning their lost.

oyin44:
Ibrahim Taiwo the killer machine

I thought it was murtala Muhammad dat give d other.

immortalityk:
Lol Ive always accepted all those places as igbo land Maybe u are talking about other yorubas on nairaland but not me Asaba port Harcourt igbanke etc is Igbo land to me What will I gain in denying its not When I also claim kwara and Kogi west When I'm not mad

I will personally come for Chioma's wedding to Davido in Osun state..

Frankdoz5:
oh my goodness, why can't Yoruba Muslims leave us alone, is it a crime to mourn for our people.

You really turning this Ipob struggle to mere joke everyday and it seems you have not realize it..yet.


Same way , you created a thread and gave it wrong caption but later changed it...you making the whole stuff childish.


If you don't know caption to suit your message ask others or read through it, then lift a line more captivating as your head topic.


With what you have now as the topic if this thread, you making the struggle of your group a huge and capital joke...

Choose a topic that correlates with the message.

MelesZenawi:



I will personally come for Chioma's wedding to Davido in Osun state..

Ok

The Asaba massacre by the second division led by Lt Colonel Murtala Mohammed and Major Taiwo.

But I'm revenge later came very swift for both men. In 1976, troops led by Bukar Suka Dimka gunned both men down on the same day

Both Murtala Mohammed and Taiwo were not even up to 40 years old when Dimka sent both men to hell where they rightfully belong.

Frankdoz5:
The 1967 Asaba Massacre

Culled

Stanley Okafor, then a university student, described how he and several relatives were summoned by troops: “we got to the police station and there was a huge crowd. And then they would come around and they would say do you know Mr. X, Mr. B, and do you know his house? They had names they wanted to kill. And once in a while they’d pick someone from the crowd, go to the back and you hear gunshots. And the crowd would wail.” Patience Chukwura, a young mother expecting her fourth child, saw her husband Eddie gunned down near the police station, along with his brother, Christian: “That made me hysterical.

I held onto the soldier and said, ‘Why did you kill my husband?’ The man, with the butt of the gun, hit me on the chest and said, ‘woman, if you’re not careful, you’ll get killed as well.’ We feared they were going to wipe out everybody in Asaba, especially male children.” Troops invaded homes, demanding money, executing men and boys, and abducting women, often before setting the houses ablaze. The streets were littered with corpses. Patrick Okonkwo recalled that his compound was crowded with extended family members, when soldiers entered and shot his two brothers, a cousin, and two other relatives. His father buried them in shallow graves in the compound. On October 7, in hopes of avoiding more violence, Asaba leaders summoned everyone to gather to show support to the troops by making a pledge to One Nigeria.

Hundreds of men, women, and children assembled, dancing and singing. According to survivors, as the parade reached a major junction, troops removed women and young children, and directed men and boys into an open area. As the crowd began to realize what might be happening, panic grew, as Peter Okonjo explained: “Women who came with their sons were removing their skirts and blouses to disguise them. And I looked at the whole place, there is nowhere to escape.” Ify Uraih was 13 years old, and had joined the parade with his brothers and father. He described how the officer in charge, identified by several witnesses as Ibrahim Taiwo, gave the order to open fire, and the massacre began: “Some people broke loose and tried to run away. They shot my brother in the back. The rest of us just fell down on top of each other.

And they continued shooting, and shooting, and shooting. I don’t know how long it took; after some time there was silence.” Hundreds died; survivors report climbing from among heaps of bodies when the soldiers finally left hours later. Ify Uraih survived, but his father, Robert, and brothers Emma and Paul were dead. His brother Medua was shot multiple times, but survived. Between 500 and 800 were murdered, in addition to many from previous days, and many people fled the town. Although there is no firm death count, our research suggests that more than 1,000 died at the hands of the troops during October. Most were buried in mass graves, without observing requisite practices, and the town was destroyed, with most of the houses looted and burned. The long-term impacts of these tragic events were profound; many extended families lost multiple breadwinners, and the town’s leadership was decimated. Survivor accounts and reports by relief agencies show that Asaba remained in dire straits until the war’s end, most inhabitants having fled or subsisting in refugee camps.

Soldiers assaulted and abducted women and girls with impunity. The destruction was so complete that Asaba disappeared from the official roll of Nigerian towns in 1969. The atrocities at Asaba remained virtually absent from the published record, and have largely remained unacknowledged. A major reason was lack of media coverage at the time. Of course Biafra became world-famous, but its public, international narrative developed after the retreat of the Biafrans across the Niger, after which the federal government imposed a blockade, effectively starving the East into submission, and searing the images of emaciated children into the international memory of the War. This contrasts with the lack of attention in 1967, when the Midwest people suffered most. The Federal government suppressed accounts of military action against civilians in the Midwest, and the international media were carefully managed. The 1967 massacres received almost no press coverage at the time. In later historical accounts, the Asaba events, if mentioned at all, are usually dismissed as aberrant or unproven. In 2001, some Asaba survivors testified to the Nigerian Human Rights Violations Investigation Commission (HRVIC, or Oputa Panel), commissioned by President Olusegun Obasanjo, and charged to consider the history of human rights abuses from 1966 to May 1999, of which civil war events were part.

The Asaba accounts were included in the Ohaneze Petition, presented by Barrister Chuck Nduka-Eze, and drawing on earlier research by Emma Okocha, as well as testimonies recorded in 1969. The HRVIC’s report was never officially released, although it is now available on the internet. Obasanjo declined to offer formal apologies, although in a landmark moment, Gowon publicly apologized to the people of Asaba in 2002, opening the door to further efforts at truth and reconciliation. After the Oputa Panel, Asaba leaders formed a committee to develop a memorial process, seeking an academic partnership to research the history of the event objectively. We responded, and with the support of our university’s Holocaust and Genocide Studies Center, have been researching the events of 1967 and beyond.

Our work is based on an array of sources, including archival collections on both sides of the Atlantic, as well as videotaped interviews with almost 80 people. Most are direct witnesses and survivors, while others testified about the long-term impacts on Asaba. They were interviewed in several locations – Asaba, Lagos, Ibadan, Benin City, and the United States, and their stories produce a compelling, detailed, and consistent account of the atrocities that befell their town. Our research has produced several interrelated conclusions. First, it shows that the killings in Asaba were unprovoked, and stemmed directly from a chain of events that started before the war, continuing through the Biafran offensive across the Niger, which stirred up simmering ethnic hatred that had previously resulted in violence toward Igbos.

So how is it ijaws business? oga make una face front habeg.