By Emeka Mama
A 78-year outdated grandfather, from Umuabugu Eje, Umuissai, Imufu Enugu Ezike, Mr Thomas Ogbu Nwaojobo, was captured as a younger boy and ‘executed’ alongside his elder brother, Lawrence by Nigerian troopers throughout the Nigeria – Biafra civil battle in 1967. The incident occurred at Enugu- Ezike, within the current Igboeze North Native Authorities Space of Enugu State.
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Each Lawrence and Thomas had their palms tied behind their backs and brought to a abandoned compound at Mkpamte, close to Ogurute, the native authorities headquarters. The troopers ordered them to lie face down earlier than being shot point- clean, one after the opposite from the again. Lawrence died immediately alongside different captives however Thomas survived. How?
Two days after he was shot at and brought for lifeless at Mkpamte, Thomas “resurrected.” He was found to be alive by an outdated man who had gone with a hoe to bury the our bodies of these executed in a shallow grave. The stench oozing from the execution floor compelled the person to get to the our bodies to burry them. He noticed that Thomas was alive together with his two eyes extensive open. The outdated man then united his palms. Thomas nevertheless, pleaded with the outdated man to be checking on him to know when he would finally die, in order to bury him in order that vultures wouldn’t feast on his lifeless physique.
Miraculously, Thomas later discovered his manner again to his father’s home after crawling and trekking for six days and nights, with out meals or water. He managed to succeed in his father’s home when elements of his intestines had received rotten however was handled by villagers with herbs and later by a well-liked chemist who was additionally later killed by the Nigerian troopers. Thomas, now about 78, spoke to Saturday Vanguard on his miraculous escape and life after his “execution” and “resurrection.”
My youth
“I’m from Umuabugu Eje, Umuossai, in Imufu Enugu Ezike, within the current Igbo Eze North Native Authorities Space, Enugu State. I used to be baptised in 1959 as a Catholic and was instructed I used to be 10 years outdated then. They mentioned I used to be born in 1949 or earlier however I must be about 78 years now or thereabout. We had been then within the outdated Japanese Area. Earlier than the Nigeria – Biafran civil battle, I used to be an apprentice on the College city of Nsukka in Enugu State.
Native battle previous the Biafra battle
“Earlier than the civil battle, there was one other native battle between the folks of Enugu-Ezike within the current Igboeze North Native Authorities Space, and its border city neighbour, Ofante in Kogi State. The battle preceded the civil battle. Throughout that battle, the Ofante folks killed our battle hero, Ogbu Nwugbabe from Aji, Enugu Ezike. Ogbu Nwugbabe had what we now name ‘Odieshi’, an antidote for dane weapons which was in vogue then. It was utilized in combating the Ofante battle. He was our battle commander.
Ogbu Nwugbabe had killed an Ofante man, whose son was a Nigerian soldier. So, the son of the Ofante man returned residence together with his army rifle and joined his native folks within the battle discipline and shot a number of of Enugu Ezike folks together with Ogbu Nwugbabe who, it was believed, couldn’t be killed with any gun. They later introduced his headless corpse to the then District Officer, DO, at Nsukka, the place it was confirmed that the bullet that felled him was from a army rifle. Shortly after his killing, the native battle ended and the Nigeria – Biafra civil battle began.
Pandemonium as Nigerian troopers overran our space
“I had then left Nsukka to gather meals gadgets from residence, since I used to be residing alone as an apprentice. I used to be studying auto- re-wiring and battery charging at Nsukka. Nonetheless, after accumulating the meals gadgets, I got here out to Ogurute, the headquarters of the outdated Igboeze North Native Authorities Council to board a car to Nsukka however couldn’t get any car as a result of the civil battle had began and the Nigerian troopers had overrun our space. I then trekked to Nsukka which was a distance of over 12 kilometres. I used to be younger then and didn’t perceive the import of the troopers at Enugu Ezike abandoning their make-shift barracks and obligation posts.
Nonetheless, by the point I received to Nsukka, residents of Ibagwa and Obukpa had been already operating into Nsukka. There was pandemonium and all people was operating helter-skelter. So, the one possibility was to return to my village- Imufu, Enugu Ezike. Once more, there was no car to go residence and I made a decision to trek again residence.
Biafran troopers pushed out of our communities
“We had been trekking again to Enugu Ezike peacefully till we received to the boundary between Nsukka and Obukpa, after we met Nigerian troopers firing at civilians on the market. We had not reached the market, however we had been watching from a far distance as Nigerian troopers had been firing on the unarmed civilians. Whereas we had been watching the troopers firing at civilians out there and all people operating in numerous instructions, I noticed one driver, Romanus Mamah, whose taxi, a Morris Minor saloon automobile, was absolutely loaded and he was driving in the direction of the place the place the troopers had been capturing on the civilians. I then began shouting, asking him to cease however he didn’t cease. He will need to have thought that we had been stopping him to present us a elevate.
He drove in the direction of the troopers and so they killed him with all his passengers. Late Romanus Mamah from Umuogili Eze, was employed by the Ekere-ezes. We later went by way of a footpath from Nsukka to Enugu Ezike. Once I returned from Nsukka, I instructed my those that issues had modified for the worst and that we should always run. I instructed them that Biafran troopers had been pushed out of Ogurute, Ibagwa and Obukpa respectively and that the Nigerian troopers had been heading in the direction of Nsukka, killing harmless civilians indiscriminately.
How I used to be captured alongside my elder brother
“However, as we had been operating, I turned again and noticed that Nigerian troopers had captured my elder brother, behind me. His title was Lawrence Ogbu. Our father’s title was Ogbu Nwojobo. As a younger boy, I believed I shouldn’t depart my elder brother, and I turned again and went to the troopers, who, then, additionally arrested me. They arrested three of us on the identical place; my elder brother Lawrence, Abu Nwugwoke and myself. Nonetheless, Abu Nwugwoke spoke fluent Hausa Language, as a result of he grew up within the north. He was additionally among the many few Muslims in our village. He spoke Hausa to the troopers and so they launched him.
So, the troopers then took us to their station. There, they tied our palms behind our backs and ordered three troopers to take us away and execute us, with our palms tied behind our backs. They led us to a close-by village, referred to as Mkpamte and requested us to lie face- down whereas being handcuffed. So we laid down and so they shot every of us from the again, one after the opposite. Lawrence died immediately. They shot me on the left aspect from the again and I fainted, after some struggling, nonetheless mendacity face down.
My miraculous survival after being shot
“The soldier that shot me clearly focused my coronary heart and ribs however missed his targets. So, I used to be there for 2 days, when a really outdated man who was residing within the compound got here with a hoe to bury every of us in shallow graves. He had buried others together with Lawrence the identical manner. Nonetheless, when it received to my flip, he found that I used to be nonetheless alive with my two eyes open. He requested me for my title and the place I got here from and I instructed him. The outdated man, Onoja Nwidoko, was compassionate. He then promised to make efforts to find my dad and mom or relations, in order that they might come and take me away.
He later got here again to tell me that our residence had been abandoned and that the few folks he noticed began operating after they sighted him. Those that had been daring sufficient to attend and take heed to him didn’t need to comply with him to the place I used to be mendacity down, dying and decaying. After narrating his efforts to find my folks and the way they fled on seeing him, I pleaded with him to be checking on me to know after I would lastly die in order that he may then bury me to make sure that vultures didn’t feast on my corpse and he agreed. The outdated man untied my palms and was truly coming to test on me to know after I would die. When he left on the third day, I began feeling thirsty. There was a chunk of damaged clay pot the place I noticed some water which had percolated inside it, so I crawled to the damaged pot and drank the water, it was mud water and I began vomiting instantly. I vomited congealed blood and water or what they described as bloody water or hemolyzed blood combination.
After vomiting a variety of blood water, I now began feeling very hungry. So, once more, I crawled in the direction of some rotten Ugiri fruits which had been falling into the compound close to me. Ugiri is a species of Ogbomo fruit, whose seeds are additionally utilized in getting ready ‘draw’ soup. I pierced them with my fingers and began sucking them as my enamel had been shaky and couldn’t chunk or eat something.
Reunion with my household after six agonising days of trekking within the bush
“On the fourth day, I used to be capable of get up, however every time I stood up, I’d fall down. I couldn’t recognise anyplace once more. I later moved away from there however I used to be transferring, stumbling and falling down. Someplace at Ezillo, when it was darkish, I noticed a hut the place some vigilante folks had made a bonfire and I slept close to it, with my head close to the fireside. I left there at day break and moved into the bush. Whereas within the bush, some troopers who had been firing at an enemy aircraft or fighter jet which was hovering across the space handed beside me. They will need to have thought that I used to be lifeless already as flies had been perching throughout me. Then on the fifth day, I used to be capable of cross the highway in the direction of the Alumu Stream at Ekposhi, Enugu Ezike. I adopted the highway to Onicha Enugu Ezike. I used to be very weak, extraordinarily drained, however I continued to trudge on.
I arrived Onicha utilizing the moonlight and began transferring in the direction of Okata and entered Umuida. I used to be capable of cross Apata Ahebi (now referred to as Umuida Highway) after which entered Imufu. I reached our compound at about 10 pm on the sixth day. This was a journey that might not take a wholesome individual two
and a half hours on foot, nevertheless it took me six days of agony. Once I reached our home, my father and his pal, Eze Nwabugu Eya from Umuoyina Nwee Village had been inside, discussing in low tones. My father couldn’t recognise my voice after I made noise on the door. He later got here and noticed me. He had problem recognising me. I used to be carrying a polo shirt which had modified color. It was soaked with blood, water, mud and sand.
My father then went inside and fetched his Umatu (knife used for tapping palm wine.) The Umatu was as sharp as a razor blade. He used it to chop the polo shirt off my physique, opening the injuries the place the bullet entered and exited from my chest. It was horrendous. My father requested me about his first son, Lawrence and I couldn’t reply something. After this, my father and his customer, Eze Nwabugu Eya, took me to Obeta Nwoyiga’s home, the place my mom and different relations had been taking refuge. Instantly they noticed me, all of them burst into tears, screaming.
Therapy for gunshot wounds with herbs and roots
I couldn’t eat, however quickly after we reached the home, our host, Obeta Nwoyiga and Ogbu Nwa Mamah Attama went into the bush to get some natural roots with which they gave me first support.
They boiled a number of the roots which I drank whereas they crushed the others in a mortar. They used the paste from the crushed roots to rub on the injuries. I used to be handled with the herbs for an additional six days, making it precisely 12 days of my agony. On that very same day, my father and his host, Obeta Nwoyiga, went and fetched Ambrose Abugu, who was working as well being attendant on the Enugu Ezike Maternity Dwelling earlier than the battle, now Enugu- Ezike Common Hospital. Ambrose gave me some injections inside our hut within the bush.
I had emaciated terribly, wanting like a stick. You could possibly depend all my ribs. I used to be like a strolling or a residing corpse. After a month of therapy within the bush, we had been suggested to depart that place and transfer additional by about three miles into the forest, which we did to keep away from being detected by the enemy. This time, we moved distant from the Imufu/Ogrute axis.
Following the recommendation, my father put me on his bicycle and took me to Umuonu, Umuida. We slept at Umushene, a close-by village to Umuonu as a result of we couldn’t attain Umuonu the identical day.
Lengthy journey to whole restoration
“At Umuonu, my dad and mom had been suggested to search for one Rufus Ugwuanyi Odanwu, then a well-liked chemist to deal with me. When Rufus was introduced, he checked out me and demanded that my father should signal an enterprise that he (my father) wouldn’t make bother with him if I died within the course of on the primary day of therapy. The enterprise was that if I died on the primary day, they’d not maintain him accountable but when I didn’t die, then it was not the injuries I had sustained that might kill me.
They signed the settlement. My solely meals then was corn flour. They normally put it in water for me to take it uncooked. It was like pap. After signing the enterprise, my father had no cash and Rufus had charged 12 Kilos then, which was some huge cash. My father then needed to strategy Polycarp Eze, who later turned the oldest man (Onyishi) in Imufu.
The eldest male in any village or household is the non secular and temporal head. Polycarp gave my father 6 Kilos for the deposit as demanded by Rufus. He now used our household land and home because the collateral. Underneath the mortgage settlement, my father wouldn’t vacate his home on the land however have to be paying an curiosity of 16 gallons of palm oil yearly till the mortgage was repaid. That’s the identical land the place I’ve my home. So, Rufus began therapy the identical night time that he was given the advance fee of 6 Kilos. He used an injection powder to deal with the wound.
The brief title of the injection was STREP. He combined the powder inside water and poured it on the wound. He then soaked a cotton wool within the remaining one and used it to cowl the wound. I used to be sitting on a picket chair all through the night time as I couldn’t lie down on the mattress product of palm fronds that had been strewn along with ropes. At midnight, I had very severe ache in my chest and by the point I used to be making an attempt to face up from the chair, pus started to ooze from the wound in nice amount. The pus may fill a bit bowl. Rufus got here very early within the morning; earlier than 6 am and requested my dad and mom what occurred and so they narrated all the pieces to him. He then instructed them that I had been healed.
Rufus instructed my dad and mom that I’d not die because of the gunshot wounds. He instantly requested for the steadiness of the 6 Kilos as agreed with my father. My father had to return to Polycarp Eze to gather the cash and handed it over to Rufus. Rufus repeated his claims that I had survived and that I’d not die because of the gunshot wounds. After the pus got here out, I felt an enormous aid. I then began strolling steadily. I additionally started to eat all varieties of meals ready throughout the battle.
One other raid by Nigerian troopers
“We had been at Umuonu for an additional 4 days when the Nigerian troopers got here on one other raid, killing civilians and burning their thatched homes, prompting our escape to Ogboli Village once more. From Ogboli, we got here again to Ugwuntu in Imufu, the place my father had constructed a hut with palm fronds. It was the place the place Rufus was coming to deal with my gunshot wounds. At some point, he got here to deal with me and after the therapy, we didn’t see him once more as a result of the Nigerian troopers visited his home and killed him. After Rufus’s sudden and tragic dying, I used to be not handled once more by anyone, till the top of the battle in 1970.
How I paid again the mortgage for my therapy
In 1969, earlier than the top of the battle, I had absolutely recovered, so I used my father’s bicycle to commerce and earn cash for compensation of the mortgage my father borrowed from Polycarp Eze. I repaid the 12 kilos and we additionally made certain that the 16 gallons of palm oil we had been giving to him for the years the mortgage lasted stopped.
I used to be promoting cassava and palm oil. I used to be carrying cassava and palm oil to our borders with Adupi, Ofante in addition to Okutu in Nsukka and Umuopu to promote and would purchase salt, batteries amongst different home goods which we didn’t have in Biafra till the top of the battle”.
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