Asaba Massacre: 58 Years Later, Victim’s Son Urges Federal Government to Compensate Families

The son of a victim of the 1967 Asaba massacre, Mr. Augustine Nwanze-Maijeh, has urged the Federal Government to compensate families of those killed, including his late father, Augustine Nduka Majeh.

Majeh was among those executed during the civil war atrocity that claimed the lives of over 1,000 residents of Asaba, Delta State.

On Tuesday, St. Augustine Catholic Church, Ibusa, in Oshimili North Local Government Area, held a posthumous birthday thanksgiving in his memory.

Speaking after the service, Nwanze-Maijeh described his late father as a philanthropist who supported both individuals and the community.

“We are remembering our father as we held a posthumous birthday thanksgiving in his honour. The federal government of Nigeria assassinated my father and left us in pain and hardship,” he told South-South PUNCH.

“His passing away brought unimaginable suffering, both physical and psychological, to my late mother and my siblings. My father’s wealth, both land and property, was confiscated. He had all the documents. We were very young. We had no clue what was happening around us.

“We are using this opportunity to appeal to the federal government to compensate for my father’s death and other victims of the Asaba massacre.

“It’s inhumanity to humans — the military committed a genocide, and the victims’ families deserve to be compensated. No amount of money will bring our fathers back, but it’s a way of healing our wounds.

“My father travelled down to Asaba to help one of his friends, who was a lawyer, on that fateful day when he met his untimely death.”

Nwanze-Maijeh, who was about five years old when his father was killed, said it took the grace of God for him and his siblings to survive the years of hardship that followed.

The people of Asaba have consistently called on the Federal Government to acknowledge and compensate the families of more than 1,000 victims of the massacre.