Asaba Memorial Oral History Project
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Interviewer
Charles Massucci; Ottanelli, Fraser
Publication Date
7-8-2010
Date
2009-10-10
Abstract
This is an oral history interview with Joseph Nwajei, a survivor of the Asaba Massacre, a mass killing of civilians which occurred in 1967 during the Nigerian Civil War. Nwajei was fifteen when the massacre occurred and had been attending boarding school in another town; when the political turmoil began, he and his siblings were brought back to Asaba. He and his family were gathered in his grandfather's house when the Nigerian soldiers entered and took his uncle outside. At that moment, he and a cousin ran out the back door and out of the compound. They ran to another village and camped out in an abandoned school for three days. On the evening of the third day, women and children from Asaba arrived at the village, and Nwajei was reunited with his grandmother and then his mother. His uncle and two brothers had been killed, and his mother was able to recover their bodies. In this interview, Nwajei offers his opinions on why the massacre occurred, and comments on the proposed memorial and excavation of the mass graves.
Keywords
Crimes against humanity, History--Nigeria--Civil War, 1967-1970, History--Nigeria--Civil War, 1967-1970--Personal narratives, Asaba (Nigeria)
Subject: geographic
Asaba (Nigeria);
Holding Location
University of South Florida
Language
English
Media Type
Oral histories; Online audio
Format
audio/mp3
Identifier
A34-00007
Recommended Citation
Nwajei, Joseph, "Joseph Nwajei oral history interview" (2010). Asaba Memorial Oral History Project. 10.
https://digitalcommons.usf.edu/asaba/10
Rights Statement
