Former President Olusegun Obasanjo has described the 1967 Asaba massacre as one of the most painful and terrible episodes of the Nigerian Civil War.
Mr Obasanjo made the remarks virtually on Wednesday while serving as chairman of the occasion at the 59th anniversary memorial of the massacre in Asaba, Delta State.
He said the remembrance was an opportunity to reflect on the suffering and destruction caused by the civil war, which lasted from 1967 to 1970.
“This marks the remembrance of one very sad aspect of the Nigerian Civil War. Of course, the war in its entirety was an unfortunate event which should never happen,” Mr Obasanjo said.
The Asaba massacre took place in October 1967, during the civil war, when federal troops entered the then Mid-Western Region after crossing the Niger River.
Hundreds of civilians were killed in Asaba, with accounts of the killings differing over the exact number of victims.
The massacre has remained a deeply painful episode in the history of the community and is commemorated annually in remembrance of those who died.
Mr Obasanjo, who served as Nigeria’s military head of state from 1976 to 1979 and later as elected president from 1999 to 2007, called for continued reflection on the events of the war and their consequences.
He said remembering such tragedies was important to ensure that future generations understood the human cost of conflict and worked to prevent a recurrence.
