Asaba Memorial Oral History Project
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Interviewer
Ottanelli, Fraser M.; S. Elizabeth Bird
Publication Date
8-10-2010
Date
2009-12-10
Abstract
Oral history interview with Chris Mkpayah, a survivor of the Asaba Massacre, a mass killing of civilians which occurred in 1967 during the Nigerian Civil War. Mkpayah, who was nineteen at the time, was a student at St. Patrick's College, Asaba. The day of the massacre, he returned to his grandmother's house after church, heard shooting, and decided to check on a friend; the friend had been shot in front of his house and was already dead. Mkpayah then returned home and after a while heard the procession of people headed for the plaza, ostensibly to welcome the troops. He joined the procession, believing that the soldiers would not kill unarmed civilians, but the soldiers began shooting and killed several hundred people. Mkpayah was not injured. After dark, he and another friend went to another town, where they stayed until Mkpayah's cousin found them a month later. He went to Biafra in 1968 and stayed there until the war ended.
Keywords
Massacres--Nigeria, Crimes against humanity, History--Nigeria--Civil War, 1967-1970, Asaba (Nigeria)
Subject: geographic
Nigeria; Asaba (Nigeria);
Holding Location
University of South Florida
Language
English
Media Type
Personal narratives; Oral histories; Online audio
Format
audio/mp3
Identifier
A34-00012
Recommended Citation
Mkpayah, Chris, "Chris Mkpayah oral history interview" (2010). Asaba Memorial Oral History Project. 22.
https://digitalcommons.usf.edu/asaba/22
Rights Statement
