(DDM) – Fifty-eight years after the Asaba massacre, families of victims are still demanding justice, recognition, and compensation from the Nigerian government.
Diaspora Digital Media (DDM) gathered that during a thanksgiving in Ibusa, Delta State, Augustine Nwanze-Maijeh recalled how his father was killed by federal troops in 1967.
Nwanze-Maijeh, who spoke emotionally at the event, accused successive governments of neglecting survivors and failing to address the historical injustice.
He said his family not only lost their breadwinner but also lost property and stability.
The tragedy forced his widowed mother and siblings into years of hardship and displacement.
Historians describe the Asaba massacre as one of the darkest episodes of the Nigerian Civil War.
In October 1967, federal troops reportedly rounded up and executed hundreds of men and boys in Asaba, accusing them of supporting Biafran forces.
Eyewitness accounts suggest that more than 1,000 lives were lost in the mass killings.
Entire communities were left traumatized, with women widowed, children orphaned, and families dispossessed.
Despite the passage of time, survivors and their descendants say they have not received adequate recognition or reparations.
Nwanze-Maijeh emphasized that justice remained the only path to healing and reconciliation.
He called on the federal government to compensate affected families and memorialize the victims.
According to him, forgetting the massacre would mean erasing a critical part of Nigeria’s painful history.
Civil society groups have repeatedly urged government to officially acknowledge atrocities committed during the civil war.
Scholars argue that Nigeria cannot achieve true national unity without confronting its past.
International human rights organizations have also highlighted the massacre as a case study in post-conflict reconciliation failures.
In 2017, some advocacy groups organized memorials in Asaba to mark 50 years of the killings.
They demanded that the federal government take steps similar to those adopted in other post-war societies, including truth commissions and reparations.
However, little has been done at the official level beyond symbolic remembrance.
Critics argue that continued silence deepens mistrust between government and communities in the South-East and South-South.
Supporters of redress maintain that compensation will not only honor the dead but also provide economic relief to surviving families.
Nwanze-Maijeh insisted that ignoring the issue undermines Nigeria’s commitment to justice and human rights.
He said healing cannot take place when wounds are left unattended for decades.
The Asaba community has pledged to continue pressing for justice until their demands are met.
For many families, the struggle for recognition has become a generational mission of remembrance and resilience.