As the anniversary of the outbreak of Nigeria’s Civil War holds next month, HRM Dr Enun Bassey Enun, the paramount chief of Biakpan in Biase LGA of Cross River State, has recalled the massacre of 3,962 members of the community during the war.
The community had since erected a monument listing the various families in the 12 clans whose sons were killed during the pogrom.
He said the community is still bitter over the massacre as the incident cannot be forgotten.
In an exclusive interview in his office in Calabar, the specialist surgeon said, “I was 21 at the outset of the war. Nearly all in my age grade were slaughtered, particularly the able-bodied young men.
“We were 58 in that age grade. The Biafran soldiers almost wiped us all out. Those in my age grade are now very few.”
According to him, Biakpan community is completely surrounded by hostile neighbours, including the Arochukwu and Ohafia peoples of Abia State.
Enun, a former national president of Nigerian students in Russia, said since there were perennial skirmishes between their great grandfathers and their Igbo neighbours, the Biafran soldiers took the opportunity of the war to attempt to do ethnic cleansing.
“One of the soldiers said to my face that their plan was to kill every person in my community.
“Indeed, during a particular day of the war, I counted 400 bodies between Emienyo community and mine. I was jumping over them as the soldiers came after me.
“We’re not happy about it; we can’t forget such massacre. Well, with time the bitterness and anger have calmed. Time is the greatest healer.
“The massacre slowed us down. Biakpan would have been far more developed today, and we would have become a big
Civil War: ‘We can’t forget how we lost 3,962 men’ – Cross River monarch
