The Asaba Massacre

In August 1967, at the onset of the Nigerian-Biafran War, Biafran forces crossed the Niger River (the then political demarcation between Biafra and Nigeria) and invaded and occupied towns and cities that sat on the western bank of the river, pushing the Nigerian army back to what is now Ondo State. The Nigerians soon counter-attacked and forced the Biafrans to retreat across the Niger and back into Biafra.

When the Nigerian forces reached Asaba (a non-Biafran town on the western bank of the Niger, in what is now Delta State), they began brutalizing the indigenes, raiding homes, and committing mass rapes and public executions, simply because they feared that the Asaba people, being Igbo, would be Biafran sympathizers. On October 7, 1967, the people of Asaba, seeking to reassure the Nigerian army of their allegiance to Nigeria, marched through their town arms-in-arms.

When they reached their town square, they were surrounded and indiscriminately fired upon by Nigerian troops. On that day alone, several hundred innocent civilians were killed and their bodies dumped into mass graves. The events of that day are known as the "Asaba Massacre".#Igbohistory

heir bodies dumped into mass graves. The events of that day are known as the "Asaba Massacre".#Igbohistory