The Federal Government is set to make a formal reconciliation declaration over the 1967 Asaba Massacre, Delta State Governor, Sheriff Oborevwori, said on Wednesday.

The governor, represented by the Secretary to the State Government, Dr Kingsley Emu, disclosed this at the 59th anniversary memorial of the massacre in Asaba, 59 years after hundreds of people were killed during the Nigerian Civil War.

Oborevwori said the Federal Government’s acknowledgement of the tragedy was critical to achieving reconciliation, adding that Delta State 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,” he said.

The governor added, “A formal reconciliation declaration will be made by the Nigerian Government, and we are hopeful that this will happen.”

He said the state government would continue to support efforts to secure national recognition of the massacre and establish a fitting national memorial, stressing that remembering the tragedy was not an attack on Nigeria.

“Never again should ethnicity, suspicion or political conflict become a licence for the killing of innocent people,” Oborevwori said.

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, insisting that a sitting President must publicly apologise before the people could achieve full closure.

“We have moved on,” Azinge said, adding that “there will be no closure and no healing until a sitting President of Nigeria publicly apologises to the Asaba people.”

The memorial also witnessed an emotional apology from Major-General Ahmed Ibrahim Taiwo (retd.), son of late Major 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.

“I cannot change what happened, but I believe and pray that this gesture can be a step towards reconciliation,” he said.

Former President Olusegun Obasanjo, who sent a recorded message to the event, described the massacre as “one of the most painful and disturbing aspects of the Nigerian Civil War” and urged Nigerians to embrace forgiveness.

Obasanjo said he wept after receiving documents detailing the massacre, adding, “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,” questioning 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 follow those steps.

Achebe said, “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 the victims for future generations.

He said, “We have survivors. We have testimonies. We have names, even if they may not yet be exhaustive.”

He added that the people of Asaba had endured the consequences of the massacre and emerged stronger, stressing that reconciliation was about forgiveness, not revenge. (The PUNCH)

•Photo: Sheriff Oborevwori represented by SSG, Dr. Kingsley Emu (3rd left); Asagba of Asaba, HRM Prof Epiphany Azinge (M); Agu Nwanyi, Dr. Valerie Azinge (2 right); Obi of Onitsha, HRM Igwe Nnaemeka Achebe (1st right); Major-General Ahmed Ibrahim Taiwo (retd.), son of late Major Ibrahim Taiwo (2nd left), and Prof. Leroy Edozien, a chief in Asaba.

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