Asaba Memorial Oral History Project
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Interviewer
S. Elizabeth Bird; Ottanelli, Fraser M.
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--Nigeria, 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
A34-00018
Recommended Citation
Ogunkeye, Gertrude Chinwe, "Gertrude Chinwe Ogunkeye oral history interview" (2010). Asaba Memorial Oral History Project. 15.
https://digitalcommons.usf.edu/asaba/15
Rights Statement
