During the civil war, the breakaway Biafra tagged the
federal troops ’Vandals’ it sounded like a mere propaganda terminology, but to
think of it, the truth is that the Federal troops most times especially at the
early stages of the war were crude and vandalistic especially the Northern
dominated 1 div. They were told by their commanders to eliminate every
worthless ‘nymiri’ or rather to complete the unfinished pogrom they started
earlier in major northern cities which culminated to the war. The Nigerian
vandals on the mind of Biafrans were really the Hausa vandals. Prior to the
formation of the and 3rd div of the Nigerian army which incorporated
Yoruba and other minority ethnic groups, the 1st and 2nd
divisions were predominantly made up of soldiers of Northern origin with
Hausa/Fulani calling the shots. And it was these divisions, especially the 1st
div that fired the first shot that marked the beginning of the aggression. It
was a known fact that 1 div during their push from Nsukka to Enugu left a trail
of atrocities especially against innocent civilians, killing maiming and raping
them. The tale of ‘Asaba Massacre’ is well known, an atrocity carried out by
soldiers of the 2nd div.
I had the unfortunate displeasure of listening to a war tale
bantering session among a group of Hausa soldiers during the war. They were
drinking ‘boomi’ palm wine and exchanging stories within my earshot. One of
them told a shocking story of how he made love to the corpse of a young Igbo
girl in a village near Nsukka; hear him. “We attacked a village, and Biafra
run. We enter village make mop-up operation shooting everything and burning
houses, Dat time I come see this
beautiful nyamiri girl she don die. She lie down and her cloth don come up,
and. I see de ‘abunan’. and we I don dey for bush long time,so I don tee I no do de tin n him my ‘abunan’ come stand gap!, kai I just do
de tin.
The feeling of disgust that was beyond description
overwhelmed me as I listened to this and other tales these soldiers were sharing
in the name of bravery.. The war was still raging, and as Igbo person within
the enemy territory I had to all the time stay unnoticed as much as possible.
All I was able to do was shouting inside me of course, Vandals! Vandals! bloody
vandals!
Did the federal troops of those days really deserve the tag
Vandal?
Let us fast forward a little bit to the post civil war era.
The same elements that initiated and carried out the war for the past over
twenty years held corporate Nigeria hostage through coups and counter coups.
They plundered, destroyed, murdered, maimed, rapped, leaving a trail of abject
poverty, dejection, joblessness, and hopelessness. They sent the best brains
running out of the country, they killed our education system, health system. They
vandalized everything, power supply, water supply, our road networks, indeed
everything that was built by our compatriots who fought for our independence.
So do they deserve the tag ‘Vandals’? You judge for yourself.
Dear Ikechukwu,
I do not begrudge you your views nor do I deny the inhuman nature of the numerous atrocities of the civil war.
I am Igbo myself and I hurt deeply too.
Its just that I am wondering what you hope to achieve with this article in this day and time?
WE need to move on really, especially in a place like NVS if we agree that we are Nigerians albeit the bitterness of that pill.
But ahead we must forge as a Nation, and not dwell on our ''holocaust'' if we are to secure our place under the sun. Our Children should be spared the gory details..
Na so I see am oo...
I too, I'm wondeing what this writer is trying to achieve with this rather gory, unnecessary and unverifiable story. In addition, the tale is too shallow to make any sense. Is this a post mortem of the civil war or the writer just suddenly remembered the devilish behaviour of this particular soldier? Better still, is he calling on NVS readers to affirm that Hausa/Fulani soldiers were vandals during the Biafra war or that they are solely responsible for Nigeria's present state to the exclusion of other tribes? The story is really open ended..is it an attempt to warn us of the dangers of civil war? Or is he trying to lend a voice to an ongoing debate I have missed?:confused1
This story should be censored or at least a caution placed, but we cant deny such things happened, by the way most of these soldiers should probably be in their late 60's assuming they were in the 20's in 1967, funny that these men are probably alive and well and because they will do the same thing if the circumstance repeats itself, we should not pretend it didnt happen
This piece is capable of provoking ethnic hatred and vengeance. It is time we did away with the ugly memories of the civil war.Some soldiers from both the federal and biafran sides committed unprintable atrocities.
No situation could be worst than that of the three biafran soldiers who stayed in the bush for more than three years, lived like animals, unaware the war had ended. Like I wrote in one of my posts, "No war is beautiful".
=Robot;4295098024>I had the unfortunate displeasure of listening to a war tale
bantering session among a group of ...Read the full article.
Ti a ko ba gbagbe oro ana, a ko ni ri elomiran ba s'ere. (If we don't put the hurt inflicted upon us yesterday behind us, we will be left without friends around us.)
In addition, many of us are working hard to put this 'victim mentality' behind us, because the more of the traces found in us, the more the 'vandals' relish in our hurts. As many of us have done, can Ikechukwu move on, please?
The British Remember Burma, The Usa Remember Vietnam, The Jews Remember The Holocaust, Yes They All Remember, But When It Comes To The Igbo What Do We Get? Move On, Forget It, Why Bring This Up, You Are Bringing Ethnic Hatred Etc
Pls Thanks My Bro For The Quick Remainder, Nigeria Is Still A Hell Hole After Knocking Back The Igbo Civilisation, Yes The Same Soildiers Have Now Raped The Already Dead Nation.
Thank You Again, I Know You Meant No Harm By This Quick Post To Anyone, Just A Quick Remainder To The Igbo Of A Past We All Too Quick To Forget At Our Own Peril,let People Say What They Want Keep It Up Bro, After All You Only Move On In Life After An Apology Or Proper Councelling Which We Igbos Have Recieved None
I guess we have been moving on when suddenly the horror now referred to as "Apo 6" occurred recently in Abuja. Was it not by extension of that "yeye" war that the DPO after failing to have the girl among the 6 of them had the impetus to ask his men to kill those boys and the girl in cold blood?
What about the audacity to drive a nail into the girl's head to prevent the sound of the gun when they eventually caught her and could not keep her alive much longer?
The last time I checked, the culprits are still alive and free.
Without the determination of Lawyer Amobi Nzelu whose life was threatened several times after he refused millions of naira bribery attempt for him to drop the case and Comrade Chukwumerije's constant presence during the sittings in the court for the case, the false accusation about their being armed robbers would have been sustained. That is the Nigeria we have.
What the DPO wanted that he could not get and that angered him was what that soldier in this story did to the victim of their vandalism.
These stories should continue until the evil in Nigeria ceases to continue and culprits admit their evil and apologise.
Those who used books from UNN Library to roast goats on the students' Vono beds frames (without matresses) should be called something worse than than VANDALS!
Hello to those of you who are critisizing the writer of this post,
I totally disagree with your view. In order words, let me say that a people who do not have a history is not worth calling a people.
In response to this post, someone else has done much by listing some of the names of other countries that had same/almost same experience, yet they still hold rememberance days in respect of the atrocities they experienced in the hands of their fellow humanbeings. I don't think that that of Nigeria/Biafra should be different.
May be what you wanted to say was that the writer should learn to forgive and forget. But be wary of those who can forgive and forget. The story of Nigeria cannever be complete without the histroy of the civil...that's the fact that we must learn to live with.
In the part of the world where I live(the same people we always want to emulate), their history is amongst the first thing that the kids are tought in school. Or don't you think that knowing this history can dissuade the future generation from doing what could lead to war?
Anyway, history is somewhat like a story, it's neither complete nor does it make sense when it's not complete.
Just my take though.
I must rush to the grocery shop before they close.
Thank you all.
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Posted by Robot| 15.09.2008 08:06