Biafra war: Markets in Asaba to shut down to honor civil war massacre victims

Markets in Asaba, the Delta State capital, will shut down on October 7 as natives of the town mark the 52nd year anniversary of a mass killing in 1967 during the Nigerian Civil War.

Over 500 natives of the town were said to have be congregated in one place and murdered in cold blood by troops of the Nigerian Army in their onslaught against Biafran rebels in eastern Nigeria.

Addressing reporters Saturday on activities in remembrance of the victims, President-General of Asaba Development Union (ADU) worldwide, Prof. Epiphany Azinge, said over 400 names of the victims have been engraved at the site of the mass killing at Ogbe-Osewe.

Azinge, who was flanked by members of the memorial organising committee, said both traditional and political approvals have been secured for the popular Ogbegonogo Market to be shut during a candle light procession that will commence from Ogbe-Osewe through the market to the Oshimili Arcade for other rituals.

He called on Asaba indigenes in the diaspora to, as a mark of respect for the victims of the massacre, observe a minute silence by 12 noon on October 7.

Describing the 1967 action of the Nigerian military as heinous, Prof. Azinge urged the Federal Government to tender an official apology and pay adequate compensation to families of the victims of the mass killing.