Asaba Memorial Oral History Project

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Interviewer

S. Elizabeth Bird; Fraser M. Ottanelli

Publication Date

8-18-2010

Date

2009-12-11

Abstract

Oral history interview with Gertrude Chinwe Ogunkeye, a survivor of the Asaba Massacre, a mass killing of civilians which occurred in 1967 during the Nigerian Civil War. Ogunkeye, her mother, and her siblings were living in Enugu but left shortly after Biafra seceded from Nigeria; they returned home to Asaba, where they stayed with Ogunkeye's grandfather. When the Nigerian soldiers arrived in Asaba, they ordered her family to leave their house and they complied, except for Ogunkeye's uncle, who hid and was later killed. They were taken to the town square, where Ogunkeye saw the soldiers kill two young men and heard machine guns as others were shot. The women, children, and elders were taken by bus to a nearby village, where they stayed for several months until her father, who was living in Lagos, managed to find them. The family did not return to Asaba until after the war was over. Ogunkeye was one of the speakers at the Oputa Panel, the commission which investigated the massacre. In this interview, she also comments on the conflict's causes and emphasizes the need for a memorial.

Keywords

Massacres, Crimes against humanity, Nigerian Civil War (1967-1970), Nigeria. Human Rights Violations Investigation Commission, Memorials

Extent

00:50:37; 22 page transcript

Subject: geographic

Nigeria; Asaba (Nigeria)

Language

English

Digital Date

2010

Media Type

Oral histories

Format

Digital Only

Identifier

A34-00018

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Rights Statement

In Copyright