The Federal Government is set to make a formal reconciliation declaration over the 1967 Asaba Massacre, Delta State Governor Sheriff Oborevwori has disclosed.
Oborevwori made the disclosure on Wednesday through the Secretary to the Delta State Government, Dr Kingsley Emu, during the anniversary memorial of the massacre in Asaba, 59 years after hundreds of people were killed during the Nigerian Civil War.
The governor said official acknowledgement of the tragedy by the Federal Government would be an important step towards reconciliation, noting that the Delta State Government had already recognised the massacre.
“An official acknowledgement by the respective governments is critical. Delta State has acknowledged the tragedy. Nigeria will acknowledge it, and we believe the world will also acknowledge it.”
Oborevwori added that the Federal Government was expected to make a formal declaration as part of the reconciliation process.
“A formal reconciliation declaration will be made by the Nigerian government, and we are hopeful that this will happen.”
The governor said Delta State would continue supporting efforts to secure national recognition of the massacre and establish a fitting national memorial for those who lost their lives.
He stressed that remembering the tragedy should not be interpreted as an attack on Nigeria, but as part of efforts to learn from the country’s history and prevent a recurrence.
“Never again should ethnicity, suspicion or political conflict become a licence for the killing of innocent people.”
He added:
“Do not inherit its bitterness; inherit its lessons.”
The development came as the Asagba of Asaba, Prof Epiphany Azinge, said the community had forgiven but would not forget the massacre.
Azinge maintained that a sitting President of Nigeria must publicly apologise to the people of Asaba before the community could achieve what he described as full closure.
“We have moved on.”
He added:
“There will be no closure and no healing until a sitting President of Nigeria publicly apologises to the Asaba people.”
The memorial also featured an emotional apology from Maj-Gen Ahmed Ibrahim Taiwo (retd.), the son of late Maj Ibrahim Taiwo, an Army officer associated with the events surrounding the massacre.
Taiwo said he had spent years researching his father’s role before deciding to apologise to the people of Asaba.
“I cannot change what happened, but I believe and pray that this gesture can be a step towards reconciliation.”
Former President Olusegun Obasanjo, who sent a recorded message to the memorial, described the Asaba Massacre as one of the most painful and disturbing episodes of the Nigerian Civil War.
Obasanjo urged Nigerians to embrace forgiveness and said he was deeply affected after receiving documents detailing the killings.
“Never again will such a black and unpleasant day occur in Nigeria or anywhere else in Africa.”
The Isama Ajie of Asaba and convener of the memorial, Chief Chuks Nduka-Eze, said the central message of the commemoration was that “Nigerian lives matter.”
He also questioned why the country had not fully explained the circumstances surrounding the killing of civilians in Asaba.
The Obi of Onitsha, Igwe Nnaemeka Achebe, called for truth, justice, restoration and healing, saying forgiveness should follow those steps.
“There must be truth. There must be justice. There must be healing. And then, forgiveness can follow.”
Meanwhile, Emu said the proposed memorial centre would preserve the names, testimonies and records of victims for future generations.
He said the state had survivors and testimonies that could help preserve the history of the tragedy.
“We have survivors. We have testimonies. We have names, even if they may not yet be exhaustive.”
Emu said the people of Asaba had endured the consequences of the massacre and emerged stronger, stressing that reconciliation should be about forgiveness rather than revenge.
The proposed Federal Government reconciliation declaration, if made, would mark a significant development in the decades-long calls for official recognition and acknowledgement of the Asaba Massacre.
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