Group demands Anioma state creation as compensation for Asaba massacre

The International Society for Social Justice and Human Rights (ISSJHR) has called on President Bola Tinubu and the National Assembly to expedite the creation of Anioma State as compensation for the Asaba massacre.

The organisation claimed that Anioma people suffered large-scale massacres during the Nigerian Civil War, most notably the Asaba massacre of October 7, 1967.

Chancellor of ISSJHR, Omenazu Jackson, in a statement on Thursday, said many Anioma people were massacred across Delta North communities, describing the killing as a state-sanctioned crime against humanity.

According to him, history demands restitution, adding that justice also requires compensation.
“For Anioma, that compensation is the creation of Anioma State, a lasting recognition of their sacrifice and a constitutional remedy to decades of neglect,” Jackson said.

Already, controversy over the creation of Anioma State as an additional state within the Southeast zone has been generating heated debate, following a bill sponsored by the Senator representing Delta North Senatorial District, Ned Nwoko.

Earlier in June, Nwoko assured leaders and stakeholders of the All Progressives Congress (APC) that the creation of Anioma State was effectively a done deal, revealing that all necessary steps had been taken in the Senate and that 75 senators had already declared support for the new state.

According to Jackson, civilians in Asaba and other Anioma communities were not involved in the January 1966 coup led by the late Major Kaduna Nzeogwu, yet they were targeted for collective punishment.

Beyond Asaba, the group said it documented atrocities in Isheagu, Ndokwa towns, Ibusa, Ogwashi-Uku, Ubulu-Uku, and other Delta North communities, where civilians were allegedly attacked, killed, and displaced during military raids between 1967 and 1970.

Citing the UN Geneva Conventions, the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights, and the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, ISSJHR argued that the killings violated international humanitarian law and must be addressed through justice and restitution.

Jackson added: “In addition to state creation, ISSJHR calls for a UN- and AU-monitored Truth and Reconciliation Process to officially acknowledge the Anioma massacres, document the scale of atrocities across the region, and provide symbolic and material reparations to families of victims.

“Such a process will restore confidence, deepen healing, and demonstrate that Nigeria is committed to truth, justice, and reconciliation.
“The blood of 3,119 Anioma martyrs cries from the soil of history. The creation of Anioma State, together with an international reconciliation framework, is the justice that Nigeria must deliver, both as restitution for the past and as a covenant of equity for the future.”