Asaba Massacre: Asagba Gives Conditions For Closure After Obasanjo’s Appeal

The Asagba of Asaba, His Royal Majesty Obi Epiphany Azinge, has declared that there can be no closure or complete healing for the people of Asaba until a sitting Nigerian President publicly apologises for the 1967 killings, 59 years after the Asaba Massacre.

The monarch made the declaration yesterday in Asaba, Delta State, during the 59th anniversary memorial of the Asaba Massacre, where former President Olusegun Obasanjo called on Nigerians and the people of Asaba to embrace forgiveness and reconciliation.

Obasanjo, who participated virtually as Chairman of the occasion, described the massacre as one of the most painful and terrible episodes of the Nigerian Civil War, saying the tragedy remained a painful reminder of the consequences of conflict.

He said: “This marks the remembrance of one very sad aspect of the Nigerian Civil War. Of course, the war was an unfortunate event, which should never have happened.

“But the Asaba Massacre, as it is called, was one of the most painful, one of the most terrible aspects of that war.” The former President disclosed that he was moved to tears after receiving documents on the massacre from the Convener of the Asaba Massacre Memorial, Chief Chuck Nduka-Eze.

According to him, the documents made him deeply sad that such an atrocity could have occurred in Nigeria during his lifetime. He therefore urged the people to make forgiveness a central part of the healing process.

“To all of you assembled: let us keep one thing in mind — forgiveness, forgiveness, and forgiveness again,” Obasanjo said.

However, the Asagba, while acknowledging the importance of forgiveness, drew a distinction between forgiveness and closure, insisting that the people of Asaba still expected formal acknowledgement and accountability at the highest level of government.

The monarch said the community could forgive without forgetting the tragedy or abandoning its demand for justice and official recognition.

He, however, stressed: “There will be no closure, there will be no healing until a sitting President, not an ex-President, but a sitting President, publicly apologises to us.”

SOURCE: THEGUARDIAN