Dr. E.C. Okoye
13
1,000 (Sept)
Grounds for credibility: Witness got this
figure from a policeman who had opportunity of going round the town. This was
up to 30th September.
Witness: Mrs.
A.N. Ishie
Day: 34
Figure: 67 (May)
Grounds for credibility: Ward servant told
witness 67 bodies were buried in two graves from the hospital mortuary. Bodies
not brought into mortuary or buried by relatives were not included.
June Disturbances in Zaria - Mrs. Venn searching for the corpse other husband in the mortuary
on 31/6/66 saw over 100 bodies in and around the place. Mrs. Ishie a nursing
sister in the hospital was told by an attendant that 67 unclaimed bodies from
the mortuary were buried in two mass graves. Neither witness included bodies
which were not brought into the hospital mortuary. An anonymous writer “John
Citizen” gave the figure in Junior Service quarters of Ahmadu Bello University
alone. Allowing for bodies not taken to mortuary 120 is reasonable assessment.
September
Disturbances In Zaria
Only two
witnesses gave estimates for the whole of Zaria during this period, Dr. Okoye
giving 1,000 dead said his source is from a policeman, who had opportunity to
go round. Mr. Ajemba who is less educated gave his estimate basing it on
killings at different parts of the town at 2,300. It is reasonable to accept no
less than 1,000.
Vom
Research Station, Zaria
Witness: E.O. Ezebuiro - (20)
Day: 11
Figure: 55
Grounds for credibility:
Expatriate Mr. Nixon told witness of 38 bodies definitely seen among Research
Station workers. Witness estimates a total of 45 workers, and 10 among traders
and teachers in town.
Witness: S.A. Gookey
Day: 11
Figure: 38
Grounds for credibility: 30 among Research
station workers and about 8 in town. The others were non-Easterners.
Considering the fact that at the beginning non-Easterners were
among those killed the figure of 40 Easterners killed is a reasonable estimate.
Mr. Nixon saw 38 bodies and Mr. Ezebuiro estimated
about 10 killed among traders and teachers in the town.
JOS
Witness: W. Iwebi
Day: 22
Figure: Not
less than 500
Grounds for credibility: Witness
emphasizes that killings started on 28/9/66 night and by 2.pm on 29/9/66 he went
into protective custody at the police station. He saw over 200 bodies on the
major roads leading to police station and estimates 500 dead in Jos town up to
2.pm on 22/9/66. But killings continued unabated after that time.
Witness: K.O.
Ezeanwu
Day: 28
Figure: 250
Grounds for credibility: Witness made no
attempt to make estimate for the whole town. He saw about 250 corpses on the
road that led him to the railway station.
Witness: Miss K.I. Ogbolu - (1,350)
Day: 34
Figure: 1,000-3000
Grounds for credibility: Witness gave
variable estimate. She was firm on 9 trips of tipper for mass grave with 50
bodies each trip = 450 bodies. 3 mass graves x 450 = 1,350 bodies. Reasonable
to accept 2,000 in view of those not brought into mass grave.
Killings in Jos descended with suddenness on the night of 28/29
September in an area hitherto quiet. Two of the witnesses gave figures and
corpses as seen on those streets through which they ran towards place of
safety. Miss Ogbolu who stayed on pretending to be a Northerner gave figure for
the whole town and as explained under her figure of 2,000 is a reasonable and
credible estimate. The witness was the only person in a unique position (apart
from the Northerners themselves) to give authentic estimates.
Katsina
Witness: E. O. Ejikeme
Day: 12
Figure: 31
(May-June)
Grounds for credibility: There is no
attempt to give total number of dead. The list is for those names that witness
knows together with their home towns and professional pursuits.
Figure: 100-120
Grounds for credibility: Estimate for
whole town given by same witness on recall.
Witness: J.E.
Aka
Day: 32
Figure: 150
Grounds for credibility: Witness had lived
in Katsina since 1958. His house was at a commanding position in Katsina-Kano
road. He climbed by a ladder into an Hausa neighbour’s house from where he saw
much.
Witness: Mrs.
Aniebunwa
Day: 45
Figure: 18
Grounds for credibility: These were dead
bodies she actually saw killed at the police station and burnt.
Only two witnesses attempted to give an estimate of the total
number of people killed in Kastina town during May-June disturbances. Both had
lived in Katstina for some time. E.O. Ejikeme gives 100- 120 and J.E. Aka 150.
An average of 123 is reasonable to accept.
Nguru
Witness:
Ese M.C. Ebiringa - 36
Day: 14
Figure:
300 (29th Sept, onwards).
Grounds for credibility: A hospital worker
gave this information to witness when under protective detention in the prison
yard. Bodies were collected by ambulance to hospital.
Witness: U.O.S. Oraka
-14
Day: 15
Figure: 321 (29th Sept.)
Grounds for credibility: This was official
figure given by a policeman to witness on 6/10/66. But instruction was given to
killers to get into all bushes and kill all Nyamiris.
Witness: U. Nkemakonam
Day: 33
Figure: Over 40 (6th Sept.)
Grounds for credibility: No other witness
gave evidence about killing in Nguru on 6/9/66. Witness however gave names of
three of his relations who were killed on that date. He left Nguru on 8/9/66.
His figure of over 40 is based on estimate.
Miss Ebiringa and Mr. Oraka’s figure of 300 and 321 were from
official sources. Mr. Oraka’s figure given to him on 6/10/66 should be taken as
the more comprehensive. These must be regarded as minimum possible because (a)
officialdom has been known to water down the severity of the massacres, and (b)
Mr. Oraka who had been through the bush knows of the extent of killing there.
His two fleeing companions were not included in the official figures. Allowing
a factor of 20% for this and adding 40 of 6th September it is reasonable to
accept 426.
Gaishua
Witness: W.O.S. Oraka
Day: 15
Figure: 37
Grounds for credibility: This was based on
actual count from fugitives from Gaishua assembled at Maiduguri on their way
home to Enugu.
This is the only witness for the town. His derivation is
authentic. The particular significance here is that it could be taken as a
sample of what must have happened in most other smaller town in Northern
Nigeria about which there has been no evidence. Were it not for the almost
miraculous survival of Mr. Oraka the killings in Gaishua would have been ‘lost
to record' like many other small towns.
Maiduguri
Witness: U.A.E
Ironbar – 37
Day: 14
Figure: 900
Grounds for credibility: Witness is a
supervisor. Estimate based on N.A. ferry loads transporting dead bodies to mass
graves.
Witness: A.E.
Archibong – 38
Day: 14
Figure: Over
1,000
Grounds for credibility: Witness estimates
over 4,000 Easterners were at Maiduguri at the time what with Dumez employers
arriving with their families. Most people who did not get to police office and
prison yard were killed.
Grounds for
credibility: Provincial police officer told the prison superintendent that over
1,000 were killed. The actual number was not given.
Witness: A. E. Amachree
Day: 15
Figure: 900
Witness: A.
E. Ekanem
Day: 41
Figure: Over
2,000
Grounds
for credibility: Based on the ferocity of the attack.
The first witnesses giving figures of the dead at Maiduguri agree
that killing started on the night of 28/9/66. The figures including the semi-official
one from the provincial police officer to the superintendent of prisons centre
around 1,000. The figure of the fifth witness O.E. Ekanem of over 2,000 is so
far removed from the others to be less credible. Accepted 1,000.
Kano
Witness: A. Ehiringe - 29
Day: 13
Figure: 1275-1500
(1st and 2nd Oct.) Railway Station only.
Grounds
for credibility: This was for the railway station and
environs only for 1st and 2nd October. Witness resisted pressure to give figures
for other places he did not visit. Estimate based on 2/3 of those in railway
station being killed.
Witness: N.N
Obim - 32
Day: 13
Figure: 1000-Sabongari
Street, 2nd October
Grounds
for credibility: Witness was rather shaky and does not
at all appear sure. He makes no effort to give overall assessment of killings
all over the town.
Witness: A.N. Unegbu - 40
Day: 14
Figure: 20
Killed in Sabongari, May 29th
Grounds
for credibility: This was based on hearsay evidence
from patients treated at Dr. Ugwunze’s hospital.
Witness: Mrs. D. Nwosu -91
Day: 27
Figure: 1000-2000
railway station, 1st Oct
Grounds for
credibility: Witness appears intelligent and gives
evidence in railway station only where she was at the time of the attack.
Witness: M.A. Okolie -116
Day: 30
Figure: Not less than 2000 between Sabongari
and Brigade.
Grounds for
credibility: This again is estimated for a section
of Kano only.
Witness: P.I. Okwawa -125
Day: 32
Figure: Minimum
7,090 (1st & 2nd Oct.) (a) railway station 800-900. (b) six principal roads
in Sabongari 700. (c) international Airport terminal etc., 400
Grounds for credibility: Most reliable and
intelligent. Actually taken round on a drive to see dead bodies on morning of
2/10/66. Classified his figures area by area and in all cases they are smaller
than those areas given out by other witnesses limiting themselves to single
areas; 4000 is estimate of people killed in their houses he did not actually
see. Knowing a curfew was on at the time it is a credible figure.
Witness: C. E. Akanne
-131
Day: 33
Figure: 200-300
May disturbances
Grounds for credibility: Witness
intelligent. Bodies seen in mortuary. Did not include all killed as some were
burnt on roads. The particular body they were looking for was not there. But
were there all Easterners? Witness is secretary of Refugee Association and a
businessman.
Witness: R.D.
Uchendu-159
Day: 37
Figure:
50 dead - Sabongari in May
disturbances (32lgbos 16 other Easterners).
Grounds for credibility: Witness
intelligent, secretary of Ibo Union, had even names of the killed by census
from his branch secretaries. Figure is for Sabongari and those who did not
severe relationship with Ibos. Those Easterners living outside Sabongari are
not included in his survey.
Witness: E. Iduate-Spiff-163
Day: 37
Figure: 4067
(1st & 2nd October).
Grounds for credibility: This figure was
given witness by a Northerner who worked at the welfare centre where bodies
were packed presumably after overflow in the mortuary.
Witness: A.R. Akasi
Day: 38
Figure: 526
(May disturbances)
Grounds for credibility: Witness says this
figure appeared in the local edition of New Nigeria of 2/6/66. There was official denial
of this on 3/6/66, but no figures were substituted. The paper was not tendered.
May-June Disturbances Only 4 witnesses in their evidence
gave figures relating to the number of Easterners killed in Kano during the May
disturbances. The fortieth witness A.N. Unegbu giving evidence on day 14 gave
the figure from patients treated at Dr. Ugwunze’s hospital during the
disturbances. The 131st witness, C.E. Akanne giving evidence on day 33 gave the figure of those killed as
between 200 and 300. He actually went into the mortuaries to look for the body
of a particular boy. It was while wading through the corpses in search of this
particular boy that he formed this estimate, tie was a businessman in Kano and
now secretary of the Refugee Association, incidentally he did not see the body
of the boy there; the boy was never seen again. And it was his view that not
all the bodies of those killed during the May-June disturbances were taken to
the mortuary.
The 159th witness Mr. R.D. Uchendu giving evidence on day 37 gives
me figure of 50 killed in Sabongari. He was secretary Ibo Union Kano and got
this figure including the names of those killed by enquiring from his branch
secretaries in Sabongari. He however, admits that for places outside Sabongari
where Easterners were congregated, their massacre was almost total. Witness 172
A.E. Akrasi giving evidence on day 38 gives the figure of 526. He claims to
have got this figures from a local edition of New Nigeria of 2nd June, 1996. He
says officials denied this figure on 3/6/66 without substituting another. The
circumstances make 200-300 of Mr. Akanno most credible. Average 250 is
therefore accepted.
September-
October disturbances
Of the 6
witnesses who gave estimates for the dead in Kano during the September -
October disturbances only 2 attempted to give figures covering the whole town.
The other 4 gave estimates in respect of the areas of the town where the wave
of killing overtook them. Witness 125 Mr.
P. I. Okwawa giving evidence on day 32 gave the
figure of 7,090 minimum killed. Mr. Okwawa is a graduate and a secondary school
teacher of long experience. Taken as he claimed to be a Ghananian, he had the
singular experience of being taken round the town on 2/10/66 in an army jeep by
Northern Nigerian soldiers who took remarkable pride in showing off what they
had done to ‘Okpara’s brothers’. Mr. Okwawa arrived at the total by making
estimate of the number of bodies he saw during the drive through, the town. Tl
s figures, he gave for each section of the town are smaller than those given by
other witnesses whose evidence was limited to these various sections Thus. Mr.
Okwawa gives for railway station 800-900 as against 1275-1500 given by witness
29, Mr. Ebiringa and 1000-2000 by 91st witness Mrs. D. Nwosu. He gives the
figures of 700 for the principal roads in Sabongari as against 1000 by witness
32 N.N. Obia and not less than 2000 between Sabongari and brigade given by
116th witness M.A. Okolie. Mr. Okwawa’s total figure includes the figure of
4000 estimated killed in their houses since the attack started in the night
after a curfew had already been imposed. The other person who gave overall
figure for the town is witness 163 Iduate-Spiff who gave 4067 up to 2nd
October. He got this figure from a Northerner who worked at the Welfare Centre
where dead bodies were stacked before burial in common graves. Evidence had
however been given that the mortuaries in the City Hospital were first filled
up before use was made of the Welfare Centre from which Iduate-Spiff’s Northern
friend got his figures. Everything considered Mr. Okwawa’s range of 7,090 to
7,760 is the most credible. Mean of 7,425 is therefore accepted.
Yola (Jimeta)
Witness: J. F. C. Mbaso -105
Day: 29
Figure: 45-50
(Sept.)
Grounds
for credibility: Witness went into hiding on the
opposite bank of the river and bases his estimate on information from
messengers and market people who crossed the river.
Witness: Miss A.U. Okon -143
Day: 34
Figure: 20
Grounds
for credibility: Witness was given this figure by
others and only relates to people who could not run away. People hunted out in
the bushes and killed were not included.
Mr. Mbaso has taken into consideration those
escapees who were hunted and killed in the bush while Miss Okon’s figure
relates to those killed with in the town. The instinct of preservation would
lead most people to run away especially as the attack was in the daytime. It is
therefore reasonable to assume that as many people were killed on the run as
within the town. The lower figure of 45 is therefore accepted as minimum.
Bauchi
Witness: D. C.
Princewill - 52
Day: 17
Figure: 300-500
(May- June).
Grounds for credibility: Witness lived in
Kaduna as Senior Executive Officer of P. & T. His estimate is based on
messages of the ferocity of the attack.
Witness: Mr. LB. Udumaga
Day: 38
Figure: 200
(in one night)
Grounds for credibility: Witness is
Inspector of Police based in Kaduna. He remembered estimates of 200 dead in
Bauchi in one night alone before the police situation reports clamped down a
censorship.
All reports confirm that the ferocity of the attack during the
May- June disturbances was greatest at Bauchi. It was a massacre and civil servants left alive
were withdrawn. The only witness giving evidence in respect of Bauchi as a
resident there was Mr. S.C. Nwakeuba (87). He was beaten
up unconscious and left for dead. He was later carried to the hospital where he
spent 21 days and was not in a position to estimate deaths. It is reasonable to
take the mean between 200 for one night and Mr. Princewill’s upper limit of
500. Accepted estimate of dead is 350.
Kaduna
Witness: J.N. Abisi
Day: 9
Figure: May
(2) July - Sept. (50) Sept. 29th - Oct, 4th (1,000)
Grounds for credibility: Witness was quite
intelligent, and as a prison warder of low rank was in a position to mix with
ordinary people. He says during May disturbances, people resident in Kaduna
carried out the operations; their preoccupation was location and destruction.
After July 29th,
Easterners were kidnapped and killed almost every day. For Sept., 29th
operation blood-thirsty Buzus were imported for the massacre. His estimate is
on trips of lorry loads carrying corpses and passing by his house; about 400
bodies were moved on 29th and earlier part of 30th when witness was taken away
for protective custody. 1,000 at least must have been killed before October 2nd
judging by the scale of operation. This figure is confirmed by the fact that of
about 4,000 Easterners in Kaduna before the operation only about 1,500 were
seen at the place of protective custody and chances and means of escape were
poor.
Witness: B.E. Obianwu
Day: 30
Figure: 68
on Sept, 29th
This was the
number of corpses sent to mortuary as seen by the correspondent of “Tzar”
on 29th September, 1966. This was the first day of the massacre.
J.N. Abisi’s evidence is not contradicted. The derivation of his figures is on
sound basis and other witnesses who were not in a position to give figures
confirm the ferocity of the killing. The figure of 68 given by the
correspondent of the paper “Tzar” was for the start of the operation. Mr.
Abisi’s figures are accepted as credible.
Argungu
Witness: D.G. Princewill
Day: 17
Figure: 100-150
Grounds for credibility: Argungu is an
important fishing centre and trade in fish was flourishing and attracted many
Easterners. Reports have it that practically no Easterners were left alive.
Certainly no surviving person came up to give evidence to the tribunal.
Accept the mean of 125.
Kontagora
Witness: D. C. Princewill -52
Day: 5
Figure: 50(May-
June)
Grounds For Credibility: Witness living in
Kaduna got this figure from telephone conversation. Kontagora is a small place.
Witness: G. O. Anikpe -103
Day: 28
Figure: 1
Grounds for Credibility: This was one of
the passengers travelling with witness from Gusau to the East. Their lorry was
attacked.
Mr. Anikpe’s evidence confirms that attacks were ferocious at
Kontagora when they even attacked people in transit. It is therefore not
difficult to accept that those a J. sally resident in the place had slim chance
to escape and to accept Mr. Princewill’s figure of 50. No surviving witness
from the town could be found to give evidence.
Makurdi
Witness: M.A. Nwizu
-34
Day: 14
Figure: 30
Grounds For Credibility: This was in
respect of those killed in the railway station where witness had rushed to with
other fugitives after the suddenness of the unexpected attack. Bodies were
carried away.
Witness: M. Nzewi - 35
Day: 14
Figure: 30
Grounds for credibility: Witness was on
duty at the Enugu end of Benue bridge. Soldiers took about 10 persons per trip
from Makurdi to North end of bridge where they were shot. He heard their cries
as they were shot. They made the trip three times before day break. Witness ran
into the goods train for Enugu straight from his work place.
Witness: L.C. Ume
Day: 15
Figure: 60
Grounds for credibility: Witness was
hiding within easy distance of the railway station while the soldiers were
asking for him. The soldiers made 6 trips of landrover carrying away 10 people
in each trip. He heard shots and he believed the people were killed at the
bridge side.
The position in Makurdi was a peculiar one. From comparative calm disorder descended like a bolt from
the blue on the night of 20th
September, 1966. By 21st September. 1966 every living Easterner had left the
place. Evidence on this sheet
concerns deaths among residents in Makurdi, transit passengers killed at the
bridge are not included. L. C. Ume was authentic about 6 trips of landover
carrying ten each. It is likely that only 3 of those crossed the Benue bridge
as noticed by E. Nzewi. The other trip being in other directions for the
killing. It is more credible that the landover made 6 trips during the whole
night than only 3. Witness Ononye (42) confirms
from an escape, that Easterners were indeed conveyed from the railway station.
Killings in the town were more difficult to assess. Witness Chukwuani (149) confirms that the ASP he sent into town on 20/9/66 night saw many dead bodies in the streets, while
he himself saw a few the following morning. A figure of 20 so killed is the
likely minimum.
Total of 80 is therefore accepted as those killed among the
residents in Makurdi in September 20-21, 1966. A separate assessment for those
abducted from trains and killed at Makurdi airport road should be made.
Zakibiam-Yandev
and Neighbourhood
Witness: O.S.I Udeng
Day: 41
Figure: 198
Grounds for credibility: Witness was
posing as a teacher of Tiv origin before the army and hired thugs. These
killings were witnessed by him personally between 29/8/66 to first week in
September at different sites in and around Zakibiam. Some were buried alive.
Posing as a teacher of Tiv origin the killers took pride in
showing the witness the results of their “thoroughness”. He was invited to count the bodies in some
cases. The soldiers were specifically stationed at Yandev which is the escape
route of Easterners fleeing from the commercial centre of Wukeri. People killed
at other periods beside that specified above are not included in the figure. It
is known that the culmination of the orgy of killing in these areas was the Makurdi massacre of September
20-21. It is reasonable to estimate that if 198 was killed the one week
beginning 29/8/66, then
up to 21st September at least another 198 would have been killed in these
areas. Accepted for Zakibiam, Yandev and neighbourhood 396.
Jalingo
Witness: G.O. Okoro - 81
Day: 25
Figure: 12
Grounds
for credibility: Witness was a fugitive from Lau and
was harboured at Jalingo police station when he saw 12 dead bodies being taken
for burial.
Witness: L.O. Oragba - 25
Day: 82
Figure: 2
Grounds for credibility: Mr. Oragba who
was living at Jalingo saw 2 dead bodies. He knew of 4 critically wounded and
one wounded. These have not been seen again and may be presumed dead.
Minimum of 12 were killed.
Funtua
Witness: A. Okoye -
90
Day: 28
Figure:
Grounds for credibility: Witness was
knocked down after matchet wounds. Was taken unconscious to Zaria hospital
where he stayed for 2 weeks. He was informed about 5 people known to him who
were killed in Funtua.
Witness: U.N.I. Onwuka
101
Day: 28
Figure: 4
Grounds for credibility: Witness was a
resident in Funtua for a long time and was well connected. He knew of 4 killed
and 20 wounded.
Mr. Onwuka is in a better position to know what happened and so
his figure of 4 should be accepted.
Misau (Bauchi)
Witness: A.E. Okorom
Day: 33
Figure: 315 (Sept)
Grounds
for
credibility: Witness saw three dead bodies. There were 25 Easterners
in the town at the
time of the attack. Since witness has not heard of or from the others the
figure of three is minimum possible. From the moment of the attack witness went
into the bush and saw those bodies while on the run.
Since witness has not heard from any of the 25 Easterners in Misau
so since the attack, and since he saw as many as 3 dead bodies on the path of
his escape, it is reasonable to assume at least half their number were killed.
The figure of 12 is taken.
Maikonkele
Witness: P.N. Ezike - 61
Day: 18
Figure: 1
(Sept.)
Grounds for credibility:
There were only two Easterners in the town. One was killed and the witness
escaped.
Daura
Witness: A. Obi – 138
Day: 33
Figure: 2 (May)
Grounds
for credibility: All Easterners in Daura were
collected and kept in a place 10 miles from town to enable the natives loot
their properties undisturbed. Two people who went back for their properties
were killed.
This number is certain for the May-June disturbances.
Lafia
& Mada
Witness: D. Agwu -166
Day: 38
Figure: 8
(Sept.)
Grounds
for credibility: Seven were killed by civilian
attackers at Lafia on 28/9/66. Because of the attack their train was ordered to
be moved further North to Mada. It was here that soldiers killed a railway
worker by cutting his throat in the presence of his “brothers” to see.
This figure is only in respect of two isolated incidents in the
area. No other witness was available to give evidence covering a wider period.
It is unlikely however that after the attack at Lafia on 28/9/ 66 many Easterners
remained behind in the place. The figure of 8 should therefore be accepted.
Ikeja
Witness: J.A. Osakwe
Day: 19
Figure: 30
Grounds for credibility: Witness was taken
into barracks on 29/7/66. They were brought out every two hours for canning for
the one day he was there. During that one day he helped load about 38 bodies
into a tipper carrying them to a mass grave in the barracks.
Witness has not given any opinion on total number of killings at
Ikeja but has limited himself to what he saw within the brief period where he was detained. An assessment of both
soldiers and civilians killed at Ikeja must be derived from the ferocity and
duration of the attack.
Witness were not only those resident at the place but also traders
of Eastern origin travelling to and from Lagos.
Sokoto
Witness: E.U. Ozoh
Day: 25
Figure: 1 (May)
Grounds
for
credibility: Destruction
and looting were the order of the day in Sokoto and Easterners were collected
in a place. One person was killed on the second day when he taught there was a
lull.
Bulabli
Witness: M.E. Ogbonnaya
Day: 45
Figure: 40
(Sept.- Oct.,)
Grounds for credibility: All Easterners in
the village were killed off. Witness who was most intelligent and objective
estimated there were no less than 40 Easterners in the village at the time. He
confirms that the train which he escorted was the last available means of
escape and any Easterner who was in it must be presumed killed. Witness
resisted pressure to give estimate for Gusau where he was in May - June or Maiduguri
where he was in September but readily gave for Bulabli where he was reasonably
sure of the figure.
Accepted 40 minimum.
Bukuru and
Minefield Area
Witness: Daniel llo
Day: 47
Figure: 300
(Sept.)
Grounds
for credibility: As Industrial Relation Officer for
the tin mines witness knew a lot of the workers. About 800-900 were
Easterners and from conversation with those who managed to return at least 300 must have been
killed.
Accepted 300 minimum.
It should be
noted that these figures relate to the killings in the town mentioned. Those
killed in their flight outside the towns have not been included.
No witnesses were
available to give evidence about quite a number of sizeable towns among which
are, Potiskum, Azare, Hadeija, Dikwa, Biu, Bama, Wukari, Pankshin, Shendam,
Lafia, Gboko, Abiya, Bida, Birnin Kebbi, Kafanchan, Oturkpo etc.
In order to
calculate the total number of Easterners killed all over Northern Nigeria, it
was found necessary to classify the towns into various size classes. Then the towns
for which evidence was available were used as samples for towns of appropriate
size class in the region and the figures raised to give a total for the size
class.
By adding the
total of the size classes dealt with an estimate was obtained for the number of
persons killed throughout Northern Nigeria.
Remembering that
in 1952 there were already some 6,971 population agglomerations in Northern
Nigeria of which 691 had a population of 5,000 and above the Tribunal decided
to concentrate its inquiries on towns with a population of 5,000 and over and
which were likely to contain a significant migrant population. By 1963 however,
as can be seen from table 1 below there were some 1934 population
agglomerations with a population of 5,000 and over in Northern Nigeria.
Table 1
Distribution of Population
Agglomerations by Size Classes in the Federation of Nigeria
|
|||||||||||||||
Size Classes of
Agglomerations
|
Number of Agglomerations in each size class in 1963
|
Number of Agglomerations in each size class and over in 1963
|
Total population in each size class and over in 1963 in 000’s
|
||||||||||||
Nigeria
|
Northern Nigeria
|
Western Nigeria
|
Mid-Western Nigeria
|
Eastern Nigeria
|
Nigeria
|
Northern Nigeria
|
Western Nigeria
|
Mid-Western Nigeria
|
Eastern Nigeria
|
Nigeria
|
Northern Nigeria
|
Western Nigeria
|
Mid-Western Nigeria
|
Eastern Nigeria
|
|
5,000 – 9,999
|
1896
|
457
|
86
|
47
|
306
|
2623
|
1934
|
204
|
61
|
424
|
26,894
|
18,460
|
5,113
|
759
|
4,561
|
10,000 – 9,999
|
572
|
415
|
55
|
10
|
92
|
727
|
477
|
118
|
14
|
118
|
15,761
|
8,314
|
4,514
|
442
|
491
|
20,000 – 19,999
|
107
|
45
|
40
|
1
|
21
|
155
|
62
|
63
|
4
|
26
|
7,535
|
2,836
|
3,715
|
296
|
1,233
|
50,000 – 99,999
|
29
|
13
|
13
|
2
|
1
|
48
|
17
|
23
|
3
|
5
|
5,288
|
1,721
|
2,603
|
276
|
688
|
100,000 and over
|
19
|
4
|
10
|
4
|
4
|
19
|
4
|
10
|
1
|
4
|
3,271
|
820
|
1,718
|
122
|
612
|
In view of the
large number of towns involved and the limited time at the disposal of the
Tribunal, it was decided to limit inquiry to towns in the three broad classes
10,000 - 49,999,50,000 - 99,999,100,000 and above. In the size class 100,000
and over evidence was taken from persons living in three towns out of the four
in this size class. In the fourth town llorin in this size class, any
disturbances there might have been were not of a serious nature and have
therefore been disregarded in the calculation. In the next size class of towns
50,000 - 99,999 evidence was taken from persons in 8 towns out of 13 towns in
this size class. The figures of deaths obtained were then raised to give the
estimated number of deaths for this size class.
In the next size
class 10,000 - 49,999 there are 460 towns. Evidence was taken in respect of 17
(seventeen) towns in this size class. The population of those 17 towns
constitutes about 5% of the total population of all the towns in this size
class. Witnesses were not available to give evidence on other towns among which
are Potiskum, Azare, Hadeija, Dikwa, Biu, Bama, Wukari, Pankshin, Shendam,
Lafia, Gboko, Abuja, Bida, Birnin Kebbi, Kafanchan, to mention a few, where
sizeable populations of Eastern Nigerians were known to reside. Considering the
planning and organisation, the agencies at work, the ferocity and general spread
of the pogrom it is reasonable to assume that in these towns quite a sizeable
number must have perished without any means of getting them into the records.
Furthermore, killings were not confined to towns but covered the escape routes
of fleeing Easterners. Many witnesses testify that soldiers were posted to
those escape routes to trap and kill fleeing Easterners. The 38th witness, Mrs. Gloria Archibong testified that
on the night of 9th October, 1966, an expatriate Engine Driver, taking them to
Enugu, detached his diesel engine and left the passengers in their coaches,
three miles to the Oturkpo railway station.
The Idoma
passengers were instructed to leave the train by the soldiers. At the signal of
a bell sounding the native attacked the Easterners in their coaches killing and
looting. Their soldier escorts shot either into the air or to kill any
passengers attempting to run out of the coaches. Corroboration of this
testimony was given by many other passengers who travelled on this trip some of
whom received injuries while a headless corpse was seen in one of the
coaches.
The 196th
witness, Mr. Udong,
saw about 198 corpses along his escape route through Yandev and Zakibiam areas.
Dr. Okoye the 30th witness said that as their train pulled out of Zaria after
the 28th - 29th September 1966 massacres vultures were swarming around the dead
bodies of fleeing Easterners littered along the track. The Tribunal therefore
feels justified in raising the figures of deaths for the 17 towns to obtain the
number of deaths for the towns in this size class.
No attempt has
been made to estimate the number of deaths in localities with a population of
less than 10,000 persons except in two significant instances Vom and Kainji where
proportionately large migrant population from Eastern Nigeria lived. It is
quite impossible to estimate with any reliable accuracy the number of
Easterners who lost their lives in the many smaller towns and about whom no
evidence could in the peculiar circumstances of the events of these pogroms be
taken. The estimate which we offer are therefore to be regarded as minimal
estimates. The evidence of witnesses on deaths in various towns by the Tribunal
is appended here as Table 2.
3. Size class 10,000 – 49,999
S/N
|
Town
|
Number of Persons Killed 1966, May/ - June
|
Sept./Oct.
|
Total Number Killed
|
1963 Population of towns
|
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
15.
16.
|
Gombe
Nguru
Gashua
Yola
(Jimeta)
Bauchi
Argungu
Kontagora
Zakibiam
and Yandev
Jalingo
Funtua
Nissu
Maikunkele
Daura
Mada & Lafia
Bulibli
Bulabuli
|
150+
-
-
-
350
250
50
-
12
4
-
-
2
-
-
-
|
-
426
37
45
-
-
-
396
-
-
12
1
-
4
40
300+
|
150
426
37
45
350
125
50
396
12
4
12
1
2
4
40
300
|
47,265
43,234
23,896
36,291
38,015
21,031
14,957
10,000
11,822
18,214
22,446
12,142
10,665
31,904
45,704
13,598
15,909
|
Grand Total
|
417,093
|
4. Size class 5,000 – 9999
S/N
|
Town
|
Number of Persons Killed 1966, May/ - June
|
Sept./Oct.
|
Total Number Killed
|
1963 Population of towns
|
1.
2.
|
Vom
(Kaduna Vom)
Bussa (Kainji)
|
-
-
|
40
2,180
|
40
2,180
|
4,168
7,322
|
Grand Total
|
11,490
|
Estimates of Number of Persons Killed
The estimate for
the total number of Eastern Nigerians killed in Northern Nigeria is obtained by
adding the total number of persons killed in the size class 100,000 and over (d0)
to the raised total obtained from the towns in the size classes 50,000 - 99,999
(d1) and 10,000 - 49,999 (d2) and the total for the two
towns Vom and Kainji which each has a population of less than 10,000 (d3).
For the size
classes 50,000 - 99,999 and 10,000 - 49,999 the raised totals of deaths are
obtained as follows. Let ‘n’ be the number of deaths as accepted by the
Tribunal in the towns of the size class in which evidence was taken. Let ‘N’
represent the total population of these towns. Let ‘P’ represent the total
population of all towns in the size class, then the estimated number of deaths
‘d’ for that size class of towns is given by the formula:
d = n/N x p
i. As a numerical example for the size
class
50,000
- 99,999 we have
n1
= 3768, N1 = 551,291, P1 = 901216
d1
= 3768
551291 x 901216 = 6160...
ii. For the size class 10,000 - 49,999 we
have
n
= 1954, N2 = 417093, P2 = 6592656
d2
= 1954/417093x6592656 = 30,887
iii. d3 = 2220
Total estimate of
number of Easterners killed in Northern Nigeria =
d0
+ d1 + d2 + d3
= 9865 + 6160 +
30887 + 2220
= 49,132
This is
reasonably close to the figure of 45,397 arrived at earlier by estimates based
on sample survey carried out in Eastern Nigeria by field workers of the
Economic Planning Commission.
In conclusion the
Tribunal hereby makes its finding that between 45,000 and 50,000 civilians of
former Eastern Nigeria were killed in Northern Nigeria and other parts of
Nigeria from 29th May 1966 to December 1967 and although it is not strictly within
its terms of reference the Tribunal estimates that not less than 1,627,743
Easterners fled back to Eastern Nigeria as a result of the 1966 pogrom.
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