Title: Biafra: The Victims
Author: Ernest Onuoha
Publisher:Alliance, Enugu
Reviewer: Edozie Udeze
Many stories and books have told and written about the Nigerian Civil war of 1967 to 1970. Some of these stories harp more on the genesis of the war; the events that led to the crisis and the personalities that played different roles in the imbroglio. It is only a few books that gave inner account of the human sufferings in the enclave called Biafra.
Most importantly, the conditions of the conquered Igbos in the hands of the Federal troops soon after the war was declared over, have not been really explored. What was the situation of the people, mostly women and young girls in the hands of the rampaging soldiers the moment they heard that the war had come to an end? It is not only the traumatic conditions of the women – married and unmarried – in the hands of these gullible soldiers that preoccupied the attention of the author, but the attitude of the Federal government towards the culprits and the victims.
A lot of women were raped daily and infected with diseases. Young girls, who had just survived the war were forced into marriage by these heartless and mean soldiers. But what could the subdued Igbos do? Many of the women began to paint and adorn their faces with charcoals to look ugly. Others perpetually strapped children on their backs to look like nursing mothers. Yet the soldiers soon discovered these tricks and thus began to unmask the women the more; defiling and demeaning them with effrontery.
The book also chronicles stories of refugees; how people trekked miles from one location to the other to escape heavy enemy constant bombardment. In most situations, as soon as people arrived one location, tired, forlorn, weak, hungry, haggard, frustrated and all, the enemy plane would descend on the place and they would take off again. Hunger and total insecurity to lives and property thus became the most constant hallmark of the Biafran enclave. Owing to this, constant deaths of people from malnutrition and hunger dominated the enclave.
In addition, most of the foreign currencies, sent by Igbos in Diaspora did not get to them. On page 38, the author noted that “while the Igbos at home suffered and died, our brothers and sisters in Diaspora passed through traumatic experiences. This was so because of the news coming from home. The news mainly was that the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) which was giving one-sided news of how the Igbos were totally overrun. Now, a lady in the United States of America just recovering from post natal experience went into shock and then bled to death on hearing that her village had been bombed and she concluded that her parents must have also died in the Federal air bombardments. Many of such cases occurred.
In the commentary portion of the book, the author observed that usually when a marriage of any sort does not work, one of the partners must take a walk. Again, those who were the main casualties, the real victims of the war were those downtrodden mentioned above. Something must be done to remember the victims in form of remembrance, after all, even HIV/AIDs victims and unknown soldiers are remembered every year. This is the whole import of this book to the society, to the Igbo and to the history of the war.