BIAFRA: THE LAST POT OF SOUP AND THE AGONY OF THE CIVIL WAR
Eke Macdonald Ndubuisi - TBP
May 27, 2017
The agony and trauma of the Nigeria-Biafra civil war could not be easily be forgotten by one Mrs. Ijeoma Eke who narrated her personal ordeal to me during the wartime.
This is a personal and historical account from a woman who as a child witnessed the manner to which British and Nigeria government devoured the Biafrans for no just cause reason being that General Jack Yakubu Gowon thwarted the accord that would have fine-tune and shape Nigeria into a modest state.
According to her, Colonel Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu went to Aburi Ghana with Jack Yakubu Gowon; both went with their associates in government to discuss the way out over the incessant killing of the citizens of the defunct and old Eastern Nigeria in the Northern part of Nigeria; a far reaching accord was perfected to be implemented by both parties at the meeting. And on reaching the shores of Nigeria, Nigerian government under General Jack Yakubu Gowon reneged from what was agreed upon and relayed to the general public a distorted version of the accord which prompted Colonel Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu to played and broadcasted the real version of the accord reached in Ghana to his people of which the people of old and defunct Eastern Nigeria were happy and congratulated Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu for this outstanding performance.
Few months after the broadcast; Jack Yakubu Gowon introduced a policing policy to be carried out on the Eastern region to which Ojukwu was against it in all entirety; then Nigeria government started their bombing assault first at the university of Nigeria in Enugwu and Biafrans retaliated.
In the eve of that war when it gets to Owerri according to the accounts of Mrs. Ijeoma Eke, her mother finished cooking that very evening and it was time for them to have their night meal when Nigeria government started bombing Owerri and people started to scamper for safety because the bombing was too heavy to the ear drum of a normal human being. families start to flee with things that they could carry on with. Mrs. Ijeoma Eke being the last born to her parents could not move nor carry on with her heavy objects; so her mother handed over to her the pot of soup to carry which is where the family hope of eating that night lies in. On their way to a neighboring town Uzoagba she threw the pot of soup away as a result of heavy bombing and being a child fear of dying overwhelmed her as she threw the pot of soup away so as to run with her family members.
The family hope of eating that night was dashed in the air, the immediate family understood and moved on because of the situation they were in as at the time; her brother joined the Biafran army with her father and fought against the enemy being the Nigeria government.
According to her it gets to a certain stage that people were buried underneath the earth as a result of heavy bombardment of the town; when normalcy returned most at times in the evening some family members went to the bombarded area where people were buried alive and exhumed/excavates the living amongst them while some died at the spot, some parents had to safeguard their children in pit latrine and houses were covered with broad and thick green leaves.
The agony of it which remains a bitter experience to Mrs. Ijeoma Eke as a child was British and Nigeria government who resorted to bombardment of hospitals where pregnant women were kept for delivering their babies, innocent children suffering from malnutrition were also bombed, markets were not exceptional to this nefarious act of bombing by the combined efforts of the British and Nigeria government.
In the heat of it all, British and Nigeria government blockaded the Biafran region which led to mass burial of the Biafran children, malnutrition was on the increase, academic activities stopped and young Biafran boys were recruited into the Biafran Boys company as child soldiers to help Biafra win the war. Weak and old men when caught by the Nigerian soldiers were asked the way Biafrans ran through or move with their walking stick; on moving to help the Nigerian soldiers show them where their children are hiding, will be shot from behind and the Nigerian soldiers rejoiced.
When it seems Biafrans were loosing the war as a result of sabotage, Biafran daughters were raped in the open where soldiers take turns on them and if the girl was not a lucky type after the rape will be shot in the head. Biafran girls were forcefully taken into unlawful marriages, our mothers were raped in front of their husbands, the suffering became unbearable that Biafran children were air borne to many parts of the world for safety and avoid the total extinction of the Biafran stock from the surface of the earth.
The Church on their part tried more especially the Catholics, Methodist, etc except the Church of England. The United Nations failed even when Ojukwu cried out to them to prevail on the Nigerian government to cease fire.
To her 30th May set aside by the leadership of the Indigenous people of Biafra should be observed and adhere to as to what the Biafrans went through in the hand of British and Nigeria governments cannot be whisk away just like that. The lost was heavy on the Biafran side after the war; many lost their lives, children became orphans as majority of their parents died in the battle field. Many properties that worth millions were gutted with fire as a result of the heavy bombardment of Biafran houses, shops and offices.
Editor/Publisher: Chinwe Korie
For your articles, reach Chinwe via;
Twitter: @ckorie17
Facebook: facebook.com/ckorie17
Email: ckorie17@gmail.com
Eke Macdonald Ndubuisi - TBP
May 27, 2017
 |
| Biafran children were malnurished by Nigerian goverment as a state policy to reduce them in size |
This is a personal and historical account from a woman who as a child witnessed the manner to which British and Nigeria government devoured the Biafrans for no just cause reason being that General Jack Yakubu Gowon thwarted the accord that would have fine-tune and shape Nigeria into a modest state.
According to her, Colonel Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu went to Aburi Ghana with Jack Yakubu Gowon; both went with their associates in government to discuss the way out over the incessant killing of the citizens of the defunct and old Eastern Nigeria in the Northern part of Nigeria; a far reaching accord was perfected to be implemented by both parties at the meeting. And on reaching the shores of Nigeria, Nigerian government under General Jack Yakubu Gowon reneged from what was agreed upon and relayed to the general public a distorted version of the accord which prompted Colonel Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu to played and broadcasted the real version of the accord reached in Ghana to his people of which the people of old and defunct Eastern Nigeria were happy and congratulated Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu for this outstanding performance.
Few months after the broadcast; Jack Yakubu Gowon introduced a policing policy to be carried out on the Eastern region to which Ojukwu was against it in all entirety; then Nigeria government started their bombing assault first at the university of Nigeria in Enugwu and Biafrans retaliated.
In the eve of that war when it gets to Owerri according to the accounts of Mrs. Ijeoma Eke, her mother finished cooking that very evening and it was time for them to have their night meal when Nigeria government started bombing Owerri and people started to scamper for safety because the bombing was too heavy to the ear drum of a normal human being. families start to flee with things that they could carry on with. Mrs. Ijeoma Eke being the last born to her parents could not move nor carry on with her heavy objects; so her mother handed over to her the pot of soup to carry which is where the family hope of eating that night lies in. On their way to a neighboring town Uzoagba she threw the pot of soup away as a result of heavy bombing and being a child fear of dying overwhelmed her as she threw the pot of soup away so as to run with her family members.
The family hope of eating that night was dashed in the air, the immediate family understood and moved on because of the situation they were in as at the time; her brother joined the Biafran army with her father and fought against the enemy being the Nigeria government.
According to her it gets to a certain stage that people were buried underneath the earth as a result of heavy bombardment of the town; when normalcy returned most at times in the evening some family members went to the bombarded area where people were buried alive and exhumed/excavates the living amongst them while some died at the spot, some parents had to safeguard their children in pit latrine and houses were covered with broad and thick green leaves.
The agony of it which remains a bitter experience to Mrs. Ijeoma Eke as a child was British and Nigeria government who resorted to bombardment of hospitals where pregnant women were kept for delivering their babies, innocent children suffering from malnutrition were also bombed, markets were not exceptional to this nefarious act of bombing by the combined efforts of the British and Nigeria government.
In the heat of it all, British and Nigeria government blockaded the Biafran region which led to mass burial of the Biafran children, malnutrition was on the increase, academic activities stopped and young Biafran boys were recruited into the Biafran Boys company as child soldiers to help Biafra win the war. Weak and old men when caught by the Nigerian soldiers were asked the way Biafrans ran through or move with their walking stick; on moving to help the Nigerian soldiers show them where their children are hiding, will be shot from behind and the Nigerian soldiers rejoiced.
When it seems Biafrans were loosing the war as a result of sabotage, Biafran daughters were raped in the open where soldiers take turns on them and if the girl was not a lucky type after the rape will be shot in the head. Biafran girls were forcefully taken into unlawful marriages, our mothers were raped in front of their husbands, the suffering became unbearable that Biafran children were air borne to many parts of the world for safety and avoid the total extinction of the Biafran stock from the surface of the earth.
The Church on their part tried more especially the Catholics, Methodist, etc except the Church of England. The United Nations failed even when Ojukwu cried out to them to prevail on the Nigerian government to cease fire.
To her 30th May set aside by the leadership of the Indigenous people of Biafra should be observed and adhere to as to what the Biafrans went through in the hand of British and Nigeria governments cannot be whisk away just like that. The lost was heavy on the Biafran side after the war; many lost their lives, children became orphans as majority of their parents died in the battle field. Many properties that worth millions were gutted with fire as a result of the heavy bombardment of Biafran houses, shops and offices.
Editor/Publisher: Chinwe Korie
For your articles, reach Chinwe via;
Twitter: @ckorie17
Facebook: facebook.com/ckorie17
Email: ckorie17@gmail.com
Post A Comment:
0 comments: