Emeka Esogbue

Asaba Set to Immortalize 1967 Massacre Victims with Monumental Memorial By Emeka Esogbue Pen Master Plans are underway in Asaba, the Delta State capital, to immortalize the victims of the October 1967 Asaba Massacre with a monumental memorial that will preserve their memory for generations to come. The initiative features prominently among the priorities of His Royal Majesty, Prof. Epiphany Chigbogu Azinge, SAN, OON, the Asagba of Asaba, who has demonstrated a strong commitment to preserving the history, heritage and collective memory of the Asaba people. As part of the initiative, internationally acclaimed artist and sculptor Mr. Enyi Echezona Jr., a multi-talented painter and sculptor of Anioma origin, has been approached to develop the proposed memorial. Echezona has already presented a proposal for the construction of a gigantic symbolic monument dedicated to the memory of those who lost their lives during the tragic events of October 1967. The proposed monument is expected to serv...

 The Towns the Soldiers Could Not Reach? Memory, Legend, and History in Anioma Civil War Narratives – Part One ​By Emeka Esogbue ​In the historical record of the Nigerian Civil War, few Anioma experiences are as thoroughly documented as the tragedy that befell Asaba in October 1967. Yet, beyond official archives, military reports, and survivor testimonies lies another vast body of knowledge—one preserved in family stories, community traditions, and local memory. Across Anioma, elders have long recounted narratives of towns that were uniquely spared from devastation: places protected by wise leadership, concealed by geography, or shielded by powerful spiritual forces. ​Communities such as Ubulu-Uku, Issele-Uku, Idumuje-Ugboko, Okpanam, Onicha-Olona, Ogwashi-Uku, and Ibusa occupy a distinctive place in these recollections.  They are remembered not necessarily as towns that soldiers never entered, but as sanctuaries that escaped the catastrophic scale of destruction witnessed els...

 Mgbotu-Ukpe Enclave (1967-1970): The Biafran State in a State in Ibusa - Emeka Esogbue  The Nigerian Civil War echoes several enclaves in the Midwestern Region of Nigeria now called "Anioma." The Midwestern Region fell to the defunct Biafra and their terrorists who operated from some camps located in some communities of the Enuani Nation. Although the Midwestern Region was rather an undeclared territory of independent Biafra before the war, the Biafran secessionists found a sly means of invading and occupying the region in 1967 with the aid of forces led by Col Banjo. One of the territories captured by them was the Ibusa community which forms this discussion.  Mgbotu-Ukpe played a huge role and scarcely would any illustrious son or daughter of Ibusa or Enuani Nation within the conscious age of the Nigerian Civil War claim ignorance of the existence of the Mgbotu-Ukpe forest in the Ibusa community. The enclave existed with many stories to the living whether one was a witn...

  Nduka Eze: The Nigerian Nationalist from Asaba Who Lost His Wife to Asaba Massacre By Emeka Esogbue Only a few writers of history will recollect Nduka Eze of the blessed memory yet he was one of the most popular Nigerian nationalists, politician, writer, author and trade unionist of his time. As a nationalist, he contributed in several fronts towards the independence of the country from the British colonialists. Born Sylvester Nduka-Eze (familarly called Nduka Eze) in Asaba to Asaba parents from Umuaji Quarters of the community on February 25, 1925, he was one of the most influential and popular Anioma natives that ever lived. Nduka Eze as he was simply called was a freedom fighter, a founding member of the Zikist Movement who also worked with the United African Company where he rose to become the National President of the union. He was a student, believer, follower and propagator of the nationalist ideas and philosophies of Dr. Nnamdi Benjamin Azikiwe before eventually switc...

 HOW OMU IFESIMEHONE REPELLED MURTALA MUHAMMED AND SAVED ONICHA-ONA FROM THE CIVIL WAR MASSACRE By Emeka Esogbue What is underreported even by Anioma writers of the Nigerian Civil War are roles played by the Omus of the Anioma people in preventing their communities from the massacres tied to the 1967-1970 civil war. It is this perspective of Omiship that this Author is finding interest in documenting Anioma history enthusiasts. The gruesome massacres carried out in the defunct Asaba Division but concentrated in Asaba were repellently frightful. In Igbodo, it was a combination of the old and young. In Isheagu, the concentration was on the aged, especially the chiefs and traditional leaders of the community, and in Asaba, it sweepingly involved the old and young with the youths s targets. Subsequently, Asaba was denied viable young men for a very long time.  That of Ibusa, a community, only 6 miles from victimized neighbouring Asaba, was more of terrorism, with Nigerian soldiers...