Cajetan Nwaozoekwe Anaegbunam was a primary school pupil at Umuogbuefi village in Ebenebe, Awka North local government area of Anambra state when the civil war broke out in 1967. Incidentally, the teenager, who was sent on an errand to deliver a cow to a buyer at Awka shortly before Nigerian forces overran his community, spent much of the 30 months of the civil war dodging bullets, enemy forces and bombs and having to feed on whatever creatures were available just to survive. He shared his incredible story of survival as a Biafran teenager cut off from home and food supplies with ARINZE ANAEGBUNAM.
Can you recall where you were and what you were doing when the civil war broke out in July 1967?
I was still undergoing my primary education, specifically in Elementary 5, when the war started. Before then, we were aware that the country had been thrown into chaos and unrest because the northerners were haunting and killing Igbos, and those perceived to be of Igbo tribe, in their thousands, as a result of the fallout of the January 1966 coup d’etat. The coup planning and execution had mostly soldiers from the Igbo ethnic group. I was of tender age then but I still remember the horror that the killings drew and how they led to mass return of Igbo people from the north and other parts of Nigeria. This was at the time it became obvious that the military government, led by then Lt. Col. Yakubu Gowon, was not doing enough to guarantee their safety in the north.
It, later, became a dicey situation when the governor of the Eastern Region, Lt. Col. Chukwuemeka Odumegwu-Ojukwu, in January 1967, agreed to attend a peace conference with a Gowon-led Nigeria military leadership at Aburi, Ghana. Most people followed that peace conference, hosted by Ghanaian leader, General Joseph Ankrah, and it was interesting, in those days, listening to people as they analysed how Ojukwu was dealing with Gowon at the talks.
When Gowon eventually refused to implement the agreements reached at Aburi and which could have made Nigeria a confederal state, most Igbos began to put pressure on Ojukwu to declare the Eastern region a Republic of Biafra. He did this and, eventually, on 30 May 1967, this was done. From that day, everybody knew that war was imminent. Gowon, eventually, declared what he initially called a ‘police action’ to recapture the breakaway Biafra on July 6, 1967 and, before we knew it, Nigerian soldiers began to launch offensives against both civilians and Biafra soldiers. Before then, the schools had been closed and students asked to go home.
So, at what point did the war reach your area and where were you then?
I was in the village with my parents and siblings until a twist of fate sent me away from home. At that time, my father, who was a crop and animal farmer, decided to marry a second wife and sold one of his cows to raise money for his bride price and other expenses. The cow was sold for £60 to one Mr Christopher Nwazulu from Amikwo in Awka. However, Nwazulu failed to come for the cow. Instead, he sent a man called Stephen from Oraifite, a teacher who lived in his house as a tenant. You know, Biafra hadn’t money of their own and so we still traded with the Nigerian currency; the coins alone, however. It happened that my father directed me to take the cow to the buyer since he wasn’t sure of the man he sent and could not guarantee that he had the experience to deliver the cow safely. I used to feed and tend the cows and so they knew me very well. That was why I was chosen to deliver the cow.
You know, as that time, our means of transportation was mainly by foot. So, we journeyed to Awka through Mgbakwu. However, when we got to Odori Bridge, we met a crowd of people digging trenches on both sides of the road. A Biafran soldier asked us to be cautious or face death if the cow should injure anybody in the trench. We managed to pass them without incident but, shortly after we left the bridge, Ebenebe, my community fell to the Nigerian troops and we heard bombs pounding in the town. Suddenly, Biafran soldiers began retreating to Awka in various attires.
When we got to a point before Mgbakwu, we decided to rest and eat at my father’s friend, Oraekeyi’s, place. There, I met a man from Umuonitsha, Ebenebe. And he told me that, ‘Ebenebe had fallen’, later to be depicted in popular parlance as “Awusa abatago Ebenebe.” I felt bad but I did not actually understand the severity of that development. We continued our journey to Awka.
The next morning, intent on returning to Ebenebe, I got to Igwebuike Grammar School Awka, along Achalla Road and met a Biafran military checkpoint. They asked where we were going to and when I answered that I was going to Ebenebe, their leader shook his head and asked us to go back that Ebenebe was ‘not cleared’ but would soon be. So, I followed the man back to their house while waiting for the opportunity to return home. That was how I lived with them throughout the war with just one cloth. The only saviour I had was that the man had four young boys and a girl. So, sometimes, I shared their clothing with them when I washed mine.
So, one evening, while in a catechism class, we began to hear gun firing, and shootings. Suddenly, we heard “Awusa abata Awka.” People were running in different directions with whatever they could carry from their homes. We ran back to the house, parked our things that night and left to Enugu-Agidi in Anambra state.
In the morning, we proceeded to Umunya where we stayed for a while until Nigerian soldiers started attacking the area and bullets were flying everywhere. We ran to Awkuzu, the home of Nwazulu’s wife. From Awkuzu, we headed to Nnobi and I was still dragging and caring for the cow the man bought from my father.
What were your recollections of the war experiences and how did you survive?
I was practically living like a shepherd boy when the school was closed. And being sent to deliver a cow to a buyer at Awka before the war reached my town, I saw terrible things on the road. We trekked unbelievable distances far inside thick bushes. We rarely knew where we would burst out to, not knowing if the Nigerian soldiers were waiting at the other end. I saw people perish as we journeyed through the bushes.
On one occasion, I got to Abagana where I beheld a horrific sight where long columns of trucks belonging to Nigerian soldiers were burnt with soldiers in them. It was a gory sight. Everywhere was so quiet and dreadful. The only sound one could heard from that scene were the noise of crickets. It was very horrible.
As we travelled along, I witnessed a building collapse from shell bombing, as I took cover. We had just left a hideout in the location on hearing that the federal troops had captured the town. We were still in the bush when the house we had just run out from was hit and brought down by bombs. As a child who went on an errand for his father and got trapped away from his parents’ reach by the war, I was devastated by what I saw on the way but the will and hunger to get home kept me going. I practically travelled to the land of the spirits by the reason of that sojourn as I continually strived to survive the dangers that we encountered on our way and one of the ultimate desires then was to return home and see my family again. I am grateful to God that I survived.
Did you and your family have food challenges and how did you survive the war famine?
I was not in the village for a long while during the war. But I learnt those in the village didn’t quite suffer hunger that much. Maybe because we were predominantly farmers. But milk and proteinous foods were in scarcity. On my return, I discovered we actually supplied food to Biafra during the war. We made garri, yams, etc. Unfortunately, those of us who stayed away from the town all through or for a while, suffered a lot of hunger dealt with us severely. We had choices of eating the unimaginable. We ate soldier ants, wall geckos, lizards, and other disgusting creatures. Millions perished as a result of lack of food and most importantly, basic nutrients in food in the form of kwashiorkor. The hunger experience depended on where people found themselves and when. Some did not witness severe hunger while others had it.
Many people engaged in the deadly trade known as afia-attack during the war, did anybody from your family participate in it, what were their experiences?
Afia attack? I was the only child from my locality who did it. Every other child avoided it because of the risk. I would carry heavy loads through rivers and forests. When we get to rivers where my height won’t cross me, the bigger ones would take the loads while I swim across and the journey continues. We took salts to the other side of the Biafran part. By this time, the Biafran land was split into Biafran 1 and Biafran II. Some unfortunate people in the ‘afia-attack’ were killed by Nigerian soldiers on road block. It was indeed a very deadly journey only embarked by the brave. Countless times, I was aided by some elderly ones to cross rivers because of the weight of the traded luggage. We really needed to survive, so we also sold Rotmans and SM cigarettes. An Igbo man is a workaholic.
What was it like living through days and nights under constant threat of aerial bombardment and death?
We simply got used to it. Since the war had broken, we had no option than to strengthen our resolve, otherwise we would be dead from tension and fear. Many could have survived except for intimidation and fear which made them run into bullets and lots of danger that took their lives. For me, I got used to it and was only doing my best to take cover from stray bullets and gun fire. I knew I could be dead any time. I calmed and consoled myself as I fought for my life by hiding, running and taking cover. It was a dreaded experience, I tell you.
Can you recall some of your relatives that died during the war?
I did loose so many like Mr Christopher Anachuna, Bonaventure Nnaechi, Albert Mmadu, Fidelis Arinze, Emmanuel Arinze, Simon Alor and many others. I had my immediate elder brother, Emmanuel Okonkwo, in the Biafran military. He was a very good soldier and marksman that was nicknamed “oku n’ agba ozara”. He never came back till the end of the war and, though he didn’t die in the war, he was badly wounded. His jaw was tied to his head because he had a sagging jaw shattered by gunshot and which bled a lot. My cousins Awutolu Okonkwo and Francis Ofonyelu also served in the Biafra military with Francis coming back early.
How did people of your age relieve tension during those 30 months of civil war?
It’s God that saves. There is nothing to boast of. Those days, you could see shell bombs fly past you and bullets hitting people all around. For instance, while at Umunya, we saw bombs, shells etc hit Ogbunike, bringing buildings down. It was then I knew it was only God that saved. You could be taking cover with somebody and the person gets hit by a bullet and you are not. Often, you could be running for cover in a group and one person just drops dead and on you just go. That was the way things were. Most of us that survived the war were simply lucky. It was not as a result of our cleverness or special skill that made us survive those near-death experiences. It was just divine providence.
There were allegations that Nigerian soldiers were brutal to civilians at the height of the war. Did you witness any such incidences of torture, rape and so on?
Speaking of torture, it was evident. But the people who witnessed torture the most were those in the North. Even the northern civilians were very brutal, how much more their military. I remember one Kadiri and some northerners that lived in our place within that period. We refused to kill any of them; rather we asked them to go. Our people hate spilling human blood. I’m not sure they would have done same to us if the reverse were the case.
Can you recall where you were and how you felt when the news broke that the war had ended?
Well, it was Mr Christopher Nwazulu, my host during the war that broke the news to me. One day, he returned home and asked me: “where did you say you are from?” And I replied that I was from Ebenebe. He said, the war is over and Ebenebe is cleared now; we travelled through it to Nkwo Anike. On hearing this, I wept bitterly. I have been away from my home all this while with just one cloth; the cloth I wore the day I was sent to see the man off with the cow. I realised that I missed my loving father whom I knew not what has become of him. Though, the man promised to train me when the war ended, I refused. Then one elderly woman I knew as mama Kenneth came and asked him to take me home since he mentioned to me that my place was cleared. So, the man took me to Ekwulobia where we boarded a Morris truck to Eke-agba market in Isuaniocha and from there to Ebenebe.
Actually, the news of the end of the civil war was gladly received by many people in the Biafra side. At that point, nobody was interested in pursuing the war. Those who survived the 30 months suffered too many losses and deprivation and so were fed up with the war. We were so pressed by the Nigerian government that surrender became inevitable. With millions dying out of hunger, diseases and bullets and bombs, it was a welcome relief for us. Thank God for General Philip Effiong and his group that surrendered to the Nigerian military government to end the bloody civil war. The war was lost the moment Ojukwu left Biafra for Ivory Coast. And it must have been very difficult for him to prosecute such a war with the kind of arms and ammunitions at his disposal and ill-trained soldiers. But I must give credit to the Biafrans for their ingenuity and self-sustaining inventions that enabled them to hold the Nigerian soldiers and their foreign mercenaries for that long.
How did you feel the first time you returned home and what did you meet when you returned?
Everybody was happy and in jubilation. They never believed I was alive. My father’s new wife pampered me. As soon as news went round that Cajetan was alive and had returned, people trooped to our house to see me for themselves. They were very happy. A majority of my people thought I was dead because immediately I left home, Nigerian soldiers raided my community. So, they did not know what happened to me afterwards. On seeing me, people were relieved and they were very joyous. I was extremely happy to be reunited with my family.
Can you recall some of the properties or persons that your family lost during the war?
Well, there is hardly any family or community that did not experience one form of loss or the other as a result of the civil war. As for me, I lost some of my friends, brothers and kinsmen. We equally lost most of our sheep and cows during the war. Our bridge was damaged and animals were sent to hiding for a very long term. Our house was intact, however. It was a welcome relief for me that I came back to such a joyous reunion.
Almost 49 years after the war ended, do you think that the Nigerian government has addressed the issues that led to the civil war?
This is where the issue lies. The Nigerian government has not done anything to address the injustices that led to the Nigerian/Biafran civil war. If you listen to the news, read papers, listen to politicians, you will see that the issues that led to that war still linger. The problem is that the Gowon-led federal military regime and subsequent military and civilian administrations in Nigeria have failed to address the problem of marginalisation of the Igbo and other minority tribes in Nigeria. And that is why there is still agitation for Biafra. It was incredible that Igbo had managed to recover from the heavy losses they suffered during the war, including the properties and deposited monies they lost through the controversial ‘abandoned property’ and twenty pounds policies of the Gowon regime. Till date, there have not been any deliberate efforts by the government to compensate the Igbo over their losses or address the injustice they suffered. How do they expect us to forget all that we went through? Take for instance, the Asaba massacre; I know there had been agitations for government to apologise for that incident but that has not happened, so far. I think, there is urgent need for the federal government to review and address the issues that led to the war because it is still alive till date. The only reason there is no war yet is the presence of old men and women that witnessed the war and are trying their best to calm the agitated nerves of their younger wards. The moment the generation of people that witnessed the war is gone and nothing is done to deal with the Nigerian problems, another war may happen. But, lets pray God never to allow that to happen because it would be more devastating and may have surprises.
As someone who lived through such a terrible period, would you subscribe to current clamour for secession of south east from Nigeria as Biafra state?
The truth remains, war is bad. There is no way to speak good of it. Nothing was enjoyable about it. I would not pray a second experience of such. We saw hell. If the secession would bring peace, then let’s allow it to be. There is no need proclaiming one Nigeria and nothing is coming out of it. It is just hypocrisy. Igbo’s are being marginalised. Let everyone go and manage themselves. If they cannot, that will be left for them. All we want is total peace.
QUOTE
“Take for instance, the Asaba massacre; I know there had been agitations for government to apologise for that incident but that has not happened, so far.”