Asaba Memorial Oral History Project
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Interviewer
Bird, S. Elizabeth; Ottanelli, Fraser
Publication Date
10-27-2010
Date
2009-12-14
Abstract
Oral history interview with Peter Okonjo, a survivor of the Asaba Massacre, a mass killing of civilians which occurred in 1967 during the Nigerian Civil War. Okonjo was a teenage boy when the massacre took place and was living with his family in the city. When the Nigerian soldiers entered the city, he joined the group of people gathering in the plaza to welcome the troops. He noticed that many of the women had dressed their sons in women's clothing and started to think that something was wrong. Upon hearing the first gunshots, he fell to the ground and laid there until the shooting stopped; eventually, he was able to escape. Okonjo fled into the bush and hid at a farm for several months. When he returned to the city, his family had gone and their house had been burned, so he stayed with an uncle in Aboh, not returning to Asaba until 1969. In this interview, Okonjo also comments on the causes of the massacre.
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
A34-00020
Recommended Citation
Okonjo, Peter, "Peter Okonjo oral history interview" (2010). Asaba Memorial Oral History Project. 3.
https://digitalcommons.usf.edu/asaba/3
Rights Statement
