HEROES’ DAY EXCLUSIVE! : REMEMBERING MONUMENT OF ASABA MASSACRE; IN PICTURE-OUR STORY

HEROES’ DAY EXCLUSIVE! |REMEMBERING MONUMENT OF ASABA MASSACRE; IN PICTURE-OUR STORY

Asaba war victims-monument, this was written on the wall of the monument, the five quarters the victims came from, boldly listed under each quarter are their names that ran into thousands.  ONAJE (UMUONAJE), AJAJI (UMUAJI) AGU (UMUAGU) UGBOMANTA, EZENEI (UMUEZNEI) UNVEILING OF ASABA MEMORIAL CENOTAPH BY HIS ROYAL MAJESTY ASAGBA PROFESSOR J.C. EDOZIEN CFR -THE ASAGBA OF ASABA ON OCTOBER 7TH 2014. With this, I was convinced we are at the right place; behold! The monument of Asaba Massacre
   
Asaba is the capital of Delta State, a state said to be South-South, the fraud that we have uncovered. While some say Delta is not Biafra, it was a shock that Delta State recorded the most gruesome murder in the history of mankind. Not only is Delta state the epitome of our genocide, the State produced the finest Biafran soldiers, Achuzia! Who was promoted to the rank of a Colonel and should be rightly addressed by Col. Joe Achuzia. It beats my imagination when some clueless men say Delta is not Biafra because as long as history is concerned, Biafrans across the Niger are more Biafran than all Biafrans.
   
We set out for Asaba in a cold weather; our focus was to get to the Asaba monument, the monument built in remembrance of Biafrans massacred. We drove and beat the traffic until we entered the way-station to the monument. “We are almost there” our handler, Bishop Uzor Chukwuma told us. We set our eyes and saw a cross in the sky and looked down to the foundation of the cross, it was a poorly built monument, just a square-form monument with its cross rose higher upon a deck. One would not wait to be told that the monument is a grave but a large one.
   

Names of the Asaba massacre victims on the wall of the monument

On the first phase of the monument are written names, so much which we could not count, with barbed wire poorly used as restriction. The back phase of the monument was a building’s fence that was alternatively used as restriction as well. We tried to count the names but felt it could run into thousands and delay us more; the survivor was waiting for us already and we need to keep to time for an interview to be granted to us. “Thousands were killed here; these names were only the ones we could make up” The veteran told us.
   

Asaba massacre monument

We were already murmuring, why such poor monument should be built for thousands of men gruesomely murdered. But at least someone built at all, “were they buried here?” we asked with sense of dissatisfaction which was un-noticed, “No?” the veteran replied us as we focused on our inspection, we needed to see every bit of it. Our heroes’ day is today and these men are worth burning candles for, we came with no candle but we came with honor.
   
The inspection took some time; residents were interestingly watching us, probably people always come to see or document something, our presence was not a strange one, they looked like they were accustomed to seeing people there. We needed to see where those Biafrans were buried, and so we pressed further for the place. “They only brought them out on this field and shot them here, they were not buried here” the veteran said casually and agreed to take us to the place they were buried.
   
We moved on and reaching a major road, they pointed at a bank building-Delta trust mortgage finance bank.  At first we were confused but they explained that the bank was built upon the grave of that thousands murdered. We expressed significant dissatisfaction this time around, this is no longer a joke, a bank to be built upon the grave men that ought to be honored and immortalized is disrespect if not sacrilege. That was the sad part; we were left with questions, why can’t those men murdered be honored? Why can’t they be remembered and their graves allowed being graves or area made a graveyard?
   
 “They gathered men, handsome and promising young Biafrans. They gathered them on that field, and massacred them. We had gone out for the war and those of them back home was deceived into believing the ceremony to mark the end of the war was real. They all came out and some others were forced out from their homes. They shot them mercilessly, unarmed and lovely people of Biafra. They never wanted war in the first place, death chased them to their homes and they only defended themselves. By then we were in the war, when we came back, they have already been murdered and they took our women away”. The veteran told Chima Onyekachi and Ifeanyi Chijioke of family writers.

Ifeanyi Chijioke and Chima Onyekachi in front of Asaba massacre monument

   
He is now a Rev. simply called Rev. Patrick Emordi, they always become Pastors and Reverends, probably because of what they saw and passed through. Phyno, a popular hip-hop musician would always quote “Ifu ife anyi furu, iburu bible” if you see what they saw, you will carry a bible and turn a preacher. You would preach the miracle and goodness of God. He stood agonizingly on the field, houses built everywhere, and at least it could save him flashes of everything that transpired. The people has narrowed the field to a path way and a small square people gather and pass their evening.
   
“They took me from my home and brought me here, they said I should dig my grave, I did and I was next to be shot when an officer came and gave a military command that we should be spared, that we are not soldiers neither are we fighters, they have already killed thousands before an angel came and saved me” Bishop Ifeanyichukwu Azeh a survivor of the massacre told us, he looked into the sky and praised heaven. “I cannot talk today, let us keep this for another day, but let us go into my church first” we entered his Church-Living ground centre.

There was much to say but we were optimistic that the victims of Asaba massacre will duly be remembered today. Today is D- day of our heroes, they shall be remembered, and these were men that came out for the purpose of peace but saw violence that took them to their graves. As we remember them today, let it be a lesson that we may learn. Nothing from Nigeria can ever be for our own good, even when they are calling for peace, they have violence at the back of their mind. When they are calling for amnesty, they have EFFC as alternative. Even when they are calling for one Nigeria, they only want our oil. Even when they are saying South-south and southeast, they only want us to remain minorities to enable them subjugate us more and more.