Asaba massacre
The Asaba massacre occurred in October 1967 during the Biafra War , in which Nigerian government troops fought against the secession of Biafra (former southeast region of Nigeria ).
course
Biafra troops invaded the Midwest region of Nigeria, reached the Niger River in August 1967, conquered Benin City and could only be pushed back by the 2nd Infantry Division under the command of Murtala Mohammed .
After the government troops had gained the upper hand, they forced the Biafra back to the Niger, which was the border to Biafra at the time, and back over the Asaba-Niger Bridge to the Biafra town of Onitsha , which is directly across from Asaba . As a result, the Biafra blew up the eastern part of the bridge so that government forces were no longer able to pursue them, as the bridge is the only way to cross the river for hundreds of kilometers.
Government forces then invaded Asaba on October 5 and began ransacking houses and killing civilians for allegedly sympathetic to Biafra. The commanders called on citizens to assemble on the morning of October 7th. In the hope of ending the violence, many residents appeared in ceremonial clothing on the main street, sang "One Nigeria" and danced to it. A little later, however, men and boys were separated from women and children at an intersection and gathered in an open square. Government troops received orders from Commander Ibrahim Taiwo to open fire with machine guns. It is estimated that more than 700 men and boys were killed in this way, including many children. In addition to these numbers, the number of people murdered in the previous and following days must be added. Some extended families lost dozens of male family members in the massacre.
consequences
Most of those murdered were buried in mass graves without any ceremony ; only a few families buried their relatives on their own. The government troops then occupied Asaba for many more months. During this time, most of the houses in the city were destroyed, more people were murdered, and many women and girls were raped and forcibly married. A large number of the citizens fled to the surrounding areas and some did not return until after the end of the Biafra War in 1970.
To this day, the Biafra fighters of that time have no apologies, reparations or the like.
Individual evidence
- ^ The Asaba Memorial Project.Retrieved March 31, 2015.
- ↑ No regrets for the Asaba massacre of Igbo-Haruna ( Memento of the original from March 30, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Retrieved March 31, 2015.
