October 1967: the Asaba massacre

The war reaches Asaba

In August 1967, weeks into the Civil War, Biafran forces crossed the Niger and invaded the Mid-Western Region. Federal forces pushed them back across the river, and around 5 October troops of the Nigerian Army's Second Division, commanded by Colonel Murtala Mohammed, entered Asaba. Soldiers went from house to house, accusing residents of supporting Biafra, and began killing civilians.

7 October at Ogbe-Osowa

Hoping to end the killing, Asaba's leaders called the town together on the morning of 7 October to show its loyalty. Hundreds of people, many in white akwa ocha cloth, walked through the streets singing and chanting "One Nigeria".

At a junction, the men and teenage boys were separated from the women and young children and marched to an open square at Ogbe-Osowa village. Machine guns were set up there, and on an order reportedly given by Major Ibrahim Taiwo, the soldiers opened fire. Some of those killed were as young as 12.

How many died

No one knows the exact number. The Asaba Development Council documented 373 names in 1981 and said its list was incomplete. Historians S. Elizabeth Bird and Fraser Ottanelli estimate that between 500 and 800 people were killed, and eyewitness estimates run from 500 to more than 1,000. Looting, rape and destruction went on after 7 October, and many families fled.

Remembering

For decades the massacre was barely spoken of in public. In October 2017 Asaba marked the 50th anniversary with a two-day commemoration, and Bird and Ottanelli's book, The Asaba Massacre: Trauma, Memory, and the Nigerian Civil War, drawn from survivors' testimony and archives, was launched there. A memorial project in the town continues to gather the names of the dead.

Figures for the dead vary widely, and survivors' accounts differ in their details. We give the range reported by the sources below.

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