Asaba Memorial Oral History Project
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Interviewer
Bird, S. Elizabeth; Massucci, Charles; Ottanelli, Fraser M.
Publication Date
5-19-2010
Date
2009-10-10
Abstract
This is an oral history interview with John Esenwa, a survivor of the Asaba Massacre, a mass killing of civilians which occurred in 1967 during the Nigerian Civil War. Esenwa, who was fourteen years old when the massacre took place, was attending boarding school in the Asaba area at the time; his school was about a mile from the city. When the soldiers entered the city, the support staff stopped coming to work, and the decision was made to close the school, but the teachers had trouble finding adequate transportation. One day, a cattle truck on its way to the Nigerian soldiers' camp stopped at the school and offered some of the students a ride. Esenwa and several others accepted; on the road, Esenwa changed his mind, jumped off, and went back to the school. None of the children who accepted the ride were ever seen again. In this interview, Esenwa also comments on the causes of the Asaba Massacre and discusses potential ways to memorialize and identify the victims.
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
A34-00002
Recommended Citation
Esenwa, John, "John Esenwa oral history interview" (2010). Asaba Memorial Oral History Project. 11.
https://digitalcommons.usf.edu/asaba/11
Rights Statement
