The Federal Government is set to make a formal reconciliation declaration over the 1967 Asaba Massacre, Delta State Governor Sheriff Oborevwori disclosed on Wednesday.
The governor, represented by the Secretary to the State Government, Dr Kingsley Emu, made the disclosure at the anniversary memorial in Asaba, held 59 years after hundreds of people were killed during the Nigerian Civil War.
Oborevwori said official acknowledgement by governments was critical to reconciliation, noting that Delta State had already recognised the tragedy and expressing belief that Nigeria, and eventually the world, would do the same. He said he was hopeful the Nigerian government would make the declaration. He added that the state would keep supporting efforts to secure national recognition of the massacre and to establish a fitting national memorial, stressing that remembering the tragedy was not an attack on Nigeria. He urged that ethnicity, suspicion or political conflict should never again become a licence to kill innocent people, and called on the younger generation to inherit the lessons of the massacre rather than its bitterness.
The Asagba of Asaba, Prof Epiphany Azinge, said the community had forgiven but would not forget. He declared that the people had moved on, but insisted there would be no closure or healing until a sitting President of Nigeria publicly apologises to the Asaba people.
The memorial also saw an emotional apology from Maj-Gen Ahmed Ibrahim Taiwo (retd.), son of the late Maj Ibrahim Taiwo, an Army officer associated with the events. Taiwo said he had spent years researching his father’s role in the massacre before deciding to apologise to the people of Asaba. He acknowledged that he could not change what happened, but said he believed and prayed the gesture would be a step towards reconciliation.
Former President Olusegun Obasanjo, who sent a recorded message, described the massacre as one of the most painful and disturbing aspects of the Civil War and urged Nigerians to embrace forgiveness. He said he wept after receiving documents detailing the killings, and expressed hope that such a day would never occur again in Nigeria or elsewhere 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 questioned why the country had not fully explained the killing of civilians in Asaba.
The Obi of Onitsha, Igwe Nnaemeka Achebe, said Nigeria must pursue truth, justice, restoration and healing, stressing that forgiveness should come only after those steps.
Emu said the proposed memorial centre would preserve the names, testimonies and records of the victims for future generations, noting that survivors, testimonies and names exist even if the list is not yet exhaustive. He added that the people of Asaba had endured the consequences of the massacre and emerged stronger, and that reconciliation was about forgiveness, not revenge.
