By Emma Okocha
“On the grant of the Charter to the company in July 10, 1886, the man to whom Goldie turned to as Chief Justice was Sir James Marshall. The headquarters was at Asaba.’’ — Oluwole, T. S. Elias, Makers of Nigerian Law, Lagos 1963.
Also See Gills Geography, Text in use up to 1912, it was clearly stated that Asaba was the capital of Southern Nigeria.
“The greatest single massacre occurred in the Ibo town of Asaba where 700 Ibo male were lined up and shot’’ — London Observer, January 21, 1968.
“There has been genocide, for example on the occasion of the 1966 massacres….Two areas have suffered badly …Firstly, the region between Benin and Asaba where only widows and orphans remain. Federal troops having for unknown reasons massacred all the men. Accordingly to eyewitnesses of that massacre the Nigeria commander ordered the execution of every Ibo male over the age of ten years’’ — Monsignor Georges[sent down on a fact -finding mission by His Holiness The Pope,] Le Monde, April 5, 1968.
“In every Sport, SBA, other wise called the Hurricane, brought into the game three elements; speed, strength and his own unique style of playing the game, once he mastered the techniques. Despite his star status,and unequaled achievements, he was unassuming. Nobody who was his contemporary at Igbobi College, Lagos, who knew Sydney Asiodu can fail to end up feeling that in him the civil war, took not just somebody, but a great leader of men.’’ — Dele Sobowale, Impressionistic Columnist, Vanguard, and Editor In Chief, The Igbobian, lamenting the wanton waste of young men and the senseless killing of the Nigerian decorated Olympian , Sydney Asiodu on the day of the Asaba Massacre.
“The Western Ibos became the most vulnerable Nigerians… required ten positive acts of loyalty to one of the rest of the nation to prove themselves human beings. Ever since the Midwest invasion, they had been hounded, killed and considered greater security risk than the real Igbos themselves’’ — Nobel Laureate, Prof. Wole Soyinka, The Man Died.
“In the spirit of Christian reconciliation accept my apologies on behalf of the Federal Military Government on the activities of the soldiers in Asaba during the Nigerian Civil war. I’m sorry for what happened especially to those who lost families….I hope Asaba people will accept this apology even if it is belated….’’ — General YakubuGowon , Apology To Asaba, Nigeria Prays, The Guardian, September 21, 2001.
There were families like the Chukwurahs of Umuaji, who at the end of the mayhem had fifteen dead. Another Chukwurah family from the different village of Umunaje, that is the quarters of the late, renowned Nigerian Constitutional lawyer, Olisa Chukwurah, SAN, counted their relations’ dead bodies, watching the horrible footage on the Western Nigeria Television.
Pa Chukwurah and all his sons, including Eddy, the handsome engineer who had just returned from England, his first son who was a veteran of the West African Force, were not spared as the soldiers painted the household with blood.
Others like the Ezeadeife family of Ugbomanta, did not fare better. They were simply wiped out! University of Ife undergraduate brothers, Akazua Oyana and Uwaegbunam Oyana were shot, wounded, and when the illiterate soldiers figured out that they were undergraduates, they furiously before their pleading mother, buried the bleeding brothers alive.
There were the pathetic cases of victims whose death caused revolution and sympathies even from their butchers. Until their death some twenty years after, the Omoko parents never recovered from the traumatic loss of their only son, Barrister Richard Omoko. Their constant mourning and inconsolable hopelessness eventually led to their deaths.
The mother of another only born, Chukwumah killed at Ogbeosowah was for many years in a state disbelief, refusing to acknowledge the fact that her only and innocent son had gone. When she eventually summoned courage to accept his passage she ran amock and since has been roaming the streets like a mad woman.
Indeed, Barrister Omoko’s death was so pathetic and more saddening when the parents learnt that they could not find his body.
The parents had continued to pray and hoped that he had escaped to Biafra. Unable to bear the personal guilt anymore, the Omoko parents were accosted one morning, by the same soldiers that dispatched their son into the River Niger. They confessed their murder of their son and presented the shocked parents with the Barrister’s golden watch, which they had forcefully taken from him before shooting him into the Niger.
They were countless professionals, medical doctors, like Dr. Eugene Akwule, and his brothers, educationists, like irreplaceable E.C. Philips MBE., top civil servants like my uncle, the late Vincent Iweze, former territorial Controller, P&T, Northern Nigeria. This man who had a red line with the mighty Sardauna was murdered with my father and his sons, to the chagrin of the commanders when the deed was over.
The big men in town on October 7, 1967, were not spared. On the other hand, Asaba was almost spared as the richest black man of that era stepped out to buy the town away from trouble. Michael Ugo who was the pioneer business mogul that owned the Ike Chukwuka Transport Lines that preceded the Ojukwu group or the EkeneDili Transport Lines, also owned the Nigeria Airmails and was the first African to establish the Export /Import business at Apapa.
His real estate empire was so vast, that any young man who came down to Lagos and had no place to shelter him, Chief Ugo would provide him with a place under the sun. He offered the soldiers some millions of pounds. There was initial agreement to save the town from mostly Northern officers who were negotiating in Hausa with Ugo.
Suddenly, this time from predominantly officers of Niger Delta origin a master list of prominent Asaba indigenes were circulated. These red eyed officers burnt the Mercedes car with the cash and came for him. Before he left for the killing ground he asked for his friend Ogbueshi Leo Okogwu. He was aware that this famous father of Nneka Mariam Babangida, had prepared the Community’s Welcome Address.
They had planned to give the victorious Nigerian soldiers the traditional Asaba welcome reverie the latter would never forget. After all, Ugo had unlimited resources, started as the Army’s Paymaster General and he Leo Okogwu is very well known in the north, had worked all his life in the region and was their peerless in law.
His fourth wife is a northerner and she had adapted very well in Asaba and could speak the sexy Ibo dialect like Queen Elizabeth could speak the Queens English.
•Next Week… Ogbeosuwah… And the Asaba Florida Quest to Bury their Dead And Seek Reconciliation
I read the posting of one retard on this forum who castigated Chief E. Clark for mentioning the injustice against Igbos during the Civil war and comparing it to the case of the Niger Delta today. The idiot claimed to have read books, and heard stories from his mother, pertaining to the Civil War. I chastised him. Another retard came to his defence. That is by the way!
The story of the Civil War has not yet been told, or if told, only from the perspective of the winners – OBASANJO, ADEKUNLE aka SCORPION etc, who conveniently avoid mentioning the gruesome atrocities they committed against their fellow citizens who only cried out against INJUSTICE.
Horrible crimes were committed against Igbos both before and during the Civil War. Worse still, these atrocities are stll going on in the forms of religious riots and deliberate exclusion of Igbos from participating in the affairs of the country.
Nigeria will do herself a world of good by officially and openly addressing the events that led to that war; the atrocities that were committed during the war, and then officially apologising for these.
Nigeria should borrow a leaf from Germany that has addressed the issue of the 2nd World War adequately. The German Chancellor, Konrad Adenauer, fell on his knees in AUSCHWITZ in Poland and begged for forgiveness for the pogrom that his country committed against Jews and Poles. This is not a sign of weakness; it is a sign of sincere admission of sin and desire for forgiveness. The living and the dead have forgiven them and they are now prosperous. Nigeria has not done this. They have been playing the ostrich. Some have even been boasting of those atrocities. We still remember our disgraced former Ambassador to America. Unless Nigeria addresses this issue, the blood of the millions of Igbos murdered in cold blood during that very black chapter of our history will not allow this country to come out the woods.
I am Asaba i never met my Parental grand father. The compound where the family house is is full of graves of uncles. My mum still cries about the masscare. My dad’s family never really recovered. This is a masscare that really destroyed families in Asaba. I grew up knowing Asaba as a land full of widows and orphans. An apology is good but there is more. Children had to drop out of school to cater for the family.
I heard about the Asaba Massacre the day Gen. Murtala Mohamed was assassinated. My Asaba friend then was jubilitating, instead of joining the euphoria of National Mourning that followed his now seeming well deserved death. He later told me the story. All his brothers survived because their mother had a prescience of impending doom and talked the brothers out of attending the “welcoming party” for the about to be “butchers on the Niger”. Nothing justified the wanton killing and the blood thirsty manner it was carried out. It was clearly against the Geneva Convention and other UN agreed conducts in war, particularly as civilians are concerned.
I Googled and searched Wikipedia, the online free encyclopedia. Information on the Asaba genocide and in deed other genocides associated with the Nigeria/Biafra war was sketchy. People who have the details should do the Igbo race a favor by documenting these gruesome Igbo historical events on the Internet, for posterity. We owe it to our younger generation of Igbos, majority of which have not heard this story.
There is no Statues of Limitation on genocide, even if it remains in the theater of conscience. Gen Haruna is still alive, I believe. Murtala met his Nemesis, but is still adorning the face of the N20 Naira note and named after many Nigerian landmark, including the old Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Umuahia, Abia State, in Igboland. What a shame! Gen Yakubu Gowon am sure is living through his own sins every day till the rest of his life.
The collective history of the Igbo race should bind us together, just like the Jews and Armenians and Albanians, whether we are in Delta, Lagos, the North and other parts of former Eastern Nigeria. There is much that binds together than divide us. These butcher whether during the Pogroms and various genocidal acts during the prosecution of the war, did not discriminate among the various Igbo hues. Other non Igbo ethnic minorities of the East were not spared, even in more recent religious riots in the far North.
“As the commanding officer and leader of the troops that massacred 500 men in Asaba, I have no apology for those massacred in Asaba, Owerri and Ameke-Item. I acted as a soldier maintaining the peace and unity of Nigeria,” Gen. Haruna.
Can you imagin what that big fool animal general haruna said? To massacre civilians without arms while some where even dancing when thet where shot was the only way you have in your plan to maintain the peace and unity of Nigeria. Anu-ofia ! The blood of these innocents will hunt you and all your linage forever in Jesus name. For Gowon, God will not allow you to die peacefully. All those involved will experience HELL on earth befor they will die. Government must look for a way to compensate the region affected and apologise as well.
The biafran war massacre at asaba killed more than 700 people. Murtala mohammed was the culprit. All male above the ages of 12 in asaba were invited to the stadium and shot in cold blood. Gowon’s apology is not enough. There are nigerian soldiers who took part in that massacre who should be asked to account. Your account is sketchy. Sir ojukwu’s transport company was more renowned. Leave ekene, that came after the war. You mean armells transport not airmail.(at least it was pronounced armells) (i am not sure if this was not owned by the midwest. Mention the name of the mid west or niger delta officer who served with murtala’s 2nd division or shut up. Murtala was the commanding officer, in military terms he bore full responsibility for the massacre.
Asaba was not the capital of southern nigeria in 1912. Asaba was the seat of the royal niger charter company of whom lugard was the supremo. It had a court yes, but a private one ran by the charter company. Answer this question. How come oba ovanrewen of benin was moved to calabar for trial? Which year was the benin massacre? How come most old land cases involving warri was tried at calabar?
Oh my God! Please write a book for the surviving posterity. Many Nigerians are simply not aware of this degree wanton genocide of innocent people. Igbos must learn of this history. It is acceptable to forgive and reconcile but never to FORGET. To the survivors of that dark period, please accept my condolence.
Visit the pensioner;s queue on the 28th, the first person on the list is Ojukwu an he is busy opening biafra houses all over. Check the link below:
http://www.biafraland.com/biafrahouseopens.htm
Thank you, Ema Okocha, for this memoriam. This bloodshed will hunt the leaders and their agents who were responsible for this massacare, not only for the rest of their lives but for the rest of the lives of their heirs and offsprings. Amen.
Wao, Lord have mercy!!! I heard about Asaba massacre during the war but I thought it was the biafran army that attacked them because they did not support them. Anyway, when u sow the wind, u will reap whirlwind. The perpetrators will surely get their reward if not here, in hereafter. It is blood-chilling. My heart goes to the family. It is not something one forgets in a hurry. How can Nigeria have peace and prosperity with the blood of the innocents still crying for vengeance. I am shocked to my bones. Thanks Emma Okocha for this write up.