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NATIONS WHICH DO NOT LEARN THE LESSONS OF THEIR PAST MISTAKES ARE DOOMED TO REPEAT THOSE MISTAKES – PART 15A

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Chapter 11

 

Personal Injuries

 

Method of Investigation

 

It was considered expedient that direct approach to the medical personnel who treated the victims of the disturbances would yield the most reliable results.

 

Since the purpose of the Tribunal was for perpetuation of testimony, it was appropriate to bring to bear the inalienable right to a registered medical practitioner to supply to another registered medical practitioner on request ail available statistics bearing on a particular medical problem.

 

Only the patient so treated, and no other person or authority has a right to object to the supply of such information by a registered medical practitioner willing to do so.

 

 

Accordingly Dr. M.A.B. Ogakwu who is a registered medical practitioner wrote personal letters (TRIB.01/1 dated 30th December, 1966 to 101 doctors and heads of medical institutions throughout Nigeria:

 

Dear Doctor,

 

We have been assigned, among other things, the duty of ascertaining the extent of loss of life and of personal injuries to persons of Eastern Nigeria origin as a result of the unfortunate disturbances in the country since May this year.

 

  1. We are also to explain, interprete and record all medical cases from the sources. This is for purely statistical purpose.

 

  1. I am aware that you can be of very great help in this arduous assignment and I am earnestly requesting your assistance.

 

  1. I enclose herewith two proformas which I consider will be helpful in compilation and collation.

 

Proforma A: is for an abridged case report on each individual case. If you indicate the number of such forms you will need, we shall despatch them to you immediately. It may not be possible to complete Proforma A in respect of all cases especially the minor ones and Proforma B will allow for complete collated returns.

 

Proforma B: 8 copies of this are enclosed, one copy being for each month from May to December, 1966.

 

Yours sincerely,

Signed Dr. M.A.B. Ogakwu.

 

Two of the letters were sent to doctors in the Federal territory of Lagos, 5 to doctors in Western Nigeria and 4 to those in Northern Nigeria, the rest being distributed in Eastern Nigeria.

 

A few of each of medical forms A and B to be completed were sent out with each of the letters.

 

Form A.                       ATR 2

 

Medical Cases

 

Name of institutions:

Name……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..

Sex……………………………………………….   Age………………………………………………………………………………

Date first seen…………………………………………………………. …………19……………………………………………..

Injured at…………………………….            On………………………………………………19………………………………………..

Injuries.

 

Progress and Prognosis:

Disability:

 

Signed…………………………………………………..

Medical Officer

 

Notes: To avoid duplication of cases, a patient was transferred to another institution, that fact should be recorded under progress and prognosis.

 

Form B                                         ATR 3

 

Medical Cases

 

Report for…………………………………………………………………..            19………………………………………

Name of Institution…………………………………………………………………………………………………………   

 

Total number of Patients attended………………………………………………………………………

Total number of deaths……………………………………………………………………………………….   

 

Age distribution…………………………………………………………………………………………………..

 

14 years and under Above 14 years
   

 

         In-patients         Out-patient
Males          Females Males          Females

 

Causes of injury:

 

  • Gun shots……………………………………………………………………………………………………………
  • Sharp cutting instruments, e.g. matches, axes…………………………………………………….
  • Blunt instruments e.g., stick, rods, whips…………………………………………………………….
  • Burns and scalds………………………………………………………………………………………………….
  • Others…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

 

Total number likely to have some degree of permanent disability………………………

 

Signed……………………………………………………    

Medical Officer

 

Response from those doctors who replied early both from Northern and Western Nigeria was quite encouraging.

 

Confident that it was their privilege to supply the information, they wrote expressing their willingness to cooperate and specifying the total number of forms they needed. Some even completed those forms sent with the original letter and returned to the Commissioner while stating the additional number of forms they needed.

 

Unfortunately some officials from Lagos, the West and the North (in many cases not the doctors to whom the letters were directed) wrote to the Commissioner that his request should be directed to the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Health. None of those officials took the trouble to find out that by such a step they were interfering with the privilege of the doctors concerned. None made mention of any objection from the patient, who solely had the legitimate right to object.

 

Subsequent events led to the conclusion that a censorship was clamped down on correspondence to the Commissioner from those parts of the country. No more correspondence was received from doctors in those areas. Even those to whom additional forms had been sent at their request, did not acknowledge receipt nor return the completed forms as they had done earlier.

 

Returns for personal injuries as recorded here are therefore mainly in respect of some hospitals in Eastern Nigeria.

 

Full Extent of Injuries Many factors militate against the ascertainment of this. In the first place returns have been suppressed from Northern and Western Nigeria and Lagos, where the disturbances occurred. The natural thing for an injured person to do is to seek medical aid at the nearest hospital. There is no doubt that this was the case throughout the disturbances in both Lagos and the West. This could also be said to be the case in Northern Nigeria during the May/June disturbances because apart from Zaria General Hospital patients were not attacked in the hospital at that time. Furthermore soon after the out-break of violence in May, appeals were made by both Lagos and Enugu authorities for people to remain in their places of residence as Government was said to have the situation well in hand.

 

Even during the September-October disturbances in Northern Nigeria when the injured and the sick were attacked in the hospital, those seriously injured had no choice but to go into the nearest hospitals. Only those whose injuries were lighter and the lucky few who were evacuated by plane would have been brought into medical institutions in Eastern Nigeria for treatment.

 

Secondly, the disturbances of 1966 were unprecedented and no provision for this type of contingency was made in standard hospital records. In fact many hospitals throughout the period under consideration did many classify their patients into refugees and non­refugees. In was only during the height of the refugee influx as from September 1966 that some hospitals introduced this method of classification to justify giving proper treatment to all refugees.

In many hospitals the records were incomplete. As the summary shows only very few small hospitals started this classification after the May 1966 disturbances.

 

Taking all these factors into consideration the following summary of returns of personal injuries from only 42 medical institutions mainly in Eastern Nigeria is but a small proportion of the totality of the problem.

 

It is reasonable to assess that this number presents less than one quarter of the total number of personal injuries that occurred throughout the disturbances. (See Table of Summary).

 

Summary of Hospital Returns
 

 

MONTH

 

 

TOTAL ATTENDED

 

 

NO. OF DEATHS

AGE DISTRIBUTION IN-PATIENTS OUT-PATIENTS
UNDER 14 YEARS ABOVE 14 YEARS MALES FEMALES MALES FEMALES
MAY 1966

JUNE 1966

JULY 1966

AUGT. 1966

SEPT. 1966

TO

FEB. 1967

28

13

2

1

 

2,543

 

18

4

1

 

64

26

9

2

 

2,477

9

4

 

386

2

4

 

67

11

5

1

 

1,570

4

1

1

 

520

TOTAL 2,585 18 69 2,514 399 73 1,587 526

 

 

Medical from ART. 3 was drawn up and sent to all Red Cross Societies and St. John’s Ambulance Brigades in Eastern Nigeria.

 

ATR.3

Schedule:        Atrocities on Eastern Nigerians 1966 (Nigerian Red Cross: Statistics)

 

  1. Town…………………………………………………………. Month of………………………………………1966
  2. Total number of persons attended……………………………………………………………………….

         

Males Females

 

 

  1. Classification according to nature of attention given
  • for starvation? …………………………………………………………………………………………
  • for nudity and inadequate clothing………………………………………………………….
  • for injuries……………………………………………………………………………………………….

 

  1. Injuries
  • Total number……………………………………………………………………………………………
  • Number referred to hospitals and clinics………………………………………………….
  • Number adequately managed at Red Cross Posts…………………………………….

 

Many Societies kept no records at all while others kept incomplete records.

 

Enugu Red Cross Society which handled the greatest number of refugees arriving by train, plane and lorries kept scrappy records only for the month of October, 1966.

 

The following summary of these returns again is incomplete and probably represents less than one third of the total number involved.

 

Summary of Returns Recorded by Red Cross Societies and St. John’s Ambulance Brigades.

 

Period:                                                 May 1966        to        January 1967

Total number attended:                     7,880                           Males 5256,

Females 2624

Total number with injuries:    3,954

 

Total number of injured referred to hospital:           824

 

Most victims had multiple injuries and instruments of infliction were very varied.

 

According to the 73rd and 74th witnesses Drs. Onwumere and Mbuke from General Hospital Enugu where the greatest number of victims were treated, a pattern of infliction emerged for each of a number of the major centres of disturbances in Northern Nigeria.

 

For Kano these witnesses say that there were many gunshot wounds and most of it was rifle shot though small number came from other types of gun including cap guns. In addition there were several cases of matchet and dagger wounds and deep and extensive bruising from blunt instruments like clubs and cudgels.

 

From Kainji the survivors had mostly cuts from matchets and axes, deep bruises and fractures, blunt instruments and some gunshot wounds. Jos victims showed battered heads, fractures and deep bruises from blunt instruments as well as gruesome lacerations and cuts from axes and matchets. Inflictions in Maiduguri were mainly by blunt instruments leading to fractures and bruises while from Zaria rifles, axes, matchets and horse-tail whips were all grist to the mill of the ferocious attack.

 

Kafanchan injuries were compatible with infliction from sticks, clubs and cudgels while those at Minna were a mixed bag of axes, matchets, clubs and gunshots – the gunshots in this instance being mostly from native cap guns.

 

Those injured at Oturkpo arrived Enugu hospital with wounds still fresh and inflicted by daggers, matchets, clubs and gunshot bruises on the foot.

 

The deductions of these medical witnesses are very well supported by the evidence of survivors from the various towns regarding the modes of attack on them. Dr. Mbuko’s evidence on Mr. Isaac Uzoukwu, a soldier from Ikeja has a particular significance. The victim had whip lashes and matchet cuts on his neck which reached down to and fractured the neckbones and almost severed the head. The victim states that these injuries were inflicted by fellow soldiers but the doctor could not see any difference between the laceration and that inflicted by matchets wielded by civilians. It became impossible therefore in the whole series to rule out infliction by soldiers merely from the nature of the wounds.

 

This view is further supported by the observations of some of the witnesses including:

 

  • Witness number 155 Mr. M.C. Chinke: He was struck by the unconventional nature of some of the weapons carried by the soldiers who arrived Makurdi on 19th September, 1966. They carried daggers, special swords, bows and arrows which are not part of the standard armaments of the Nigerian Army. He rightly wondered whether they were not hired killers in army uniform.

 

  • Witness No. 75 Mr. C. Maduagwu: He narrates how a soldier who had been assigned to be one of their escorts in the train from Kano changed into civilian dress and carried a sword to attack them when they pulled in at Oturkpo at night. Witness and another passenger, Mr. Pius Onuegbu recognised him despite his change of dress, told him so, and defended themselves with bottles. The soldier changed to civilian left their coach to carry on his plundering in another coach.

 

The medical witnesses (73rd and 74th) also gave useful opinions on the injuries treated at Enugu General Hospital in relation to the general scope and extent of injuries during the disturbances. Dr. Onwumere on being asked to reconcile the returns from Enugu General Hospital of 1,881 attended with only one death with the general accepted ferocity of the attacks had this to say:

 

Yes, my impression is that most of the cases died in the North. The very serious ones never got to us, so that what we got, although many of them were serious were those that have survived. And most of the cases took about eight days. The earliest one took about seven days, but most of them took eight to ten days before we got them. That is, they had those injuries about the 29th of September but we got the first batch about the 7th of October.

 

Dr. S.O. Mbuko was of similar opinion. He thought that all those that got bullet wounds in vital areas would have died in the North. Those that got to them in Enugu were those who had matchet cuts and blunt injuries and a few with gunshots in less vital places and were particularly lucky to recover.

 

Further confirmation of these opinions on the extent and ferocity of the attacks is given in the testimonies of many of the surviving victims among whom are:

 

Michel Okekenta: the 122nd witness, described his protracted and gruesome experience and this can best be appre­ciated by quoting verbatim a section of what he had to say as he was led in evidence on the 21st of March, 1967.

 

Q. 5.781: “What happened tell us your experience” “After the May disturbances, I sent my wife and children home. Immediately they arrived home in June, they started to worry me to return. I told them that I would not return until my application for transfer to the Eastern Regional Public Service had been granted. Moreover, the people in authority were assuring us that no further disturbances would occur. They were patient for some time but later on after the July coup relatives started to write me to come back. My wife went to the Public Service Commission, Enugu, to check whether my application for transfer was sent from Kaduna but she was told that it had not been sent. I sent an advance copy to the Chairman of the P.S.C. So later I endorsed their letter forwarding it to Enugu from Kaduna. It was forwarded on the 24th of August whereas I submitted it on the 11th of June, 1966. On 23rd September, I received a telegram from my brother at home that my wife had died and that I should proceed home immediately. I was shocked and showed the telegram to the Sub-Treasurer, a European, at Kano. He was sympathetic and asked me if I would like to go. I said yes and he granted me two weeks casual leave, from 24th September to 8th October. I arrived at the railway station to make arrangement for my loads.”

 

Q.5782:           On what day was that?” “On the very 23rd of Septe­mber. When I got there I was informed that they were instructed not to accept any loads to the East again, and later on it was announced that the Eastern Limited train which would have travelled on the 23rd was cancelled.”

 

Q. 5783: Instructed by whom?” “The Authorities in Lagos.”

 

Q. 5784 Did you ask them why it was necessary for them to do that?” “They said that there were disturbances at Kafanchan and that the driver there refused to work the train.

 

Q. 5785: Over Radio Kaduna?” “No, N.B.C. So, I started to look for alternative transport by lorry. But they refused to accept my motorcycle; I was determined to go with it. So I did not travel on that day; I postponed it until Monday which was 26th so as to travel by the Kano/lddo Limited. On that very day I was travelling to railway station.

 

Q. 5.786: That was on the 26th?” “Yes, sir, on the 26th. I was on my way to the railway station when I met some people who told me that the Kano/Iddo Limited had been cancelled.

 

Q. 5787: What reason did they give for this?” “They said in this second case that another disturbance had broken out at Minna. I went back to the office and reported to the Sub-Treasurer. He told me to continue working until I got another transport. I worked on that day, 26th. When I got home the evening a friend of mine working in the Aviation, an Obosi man, came and told me that there was a lorry going to Onitsha on the 27th. So I accompanied him to the driver of the lorry; and he was a person known to me, an Nnewi man. He promised to take all my loads and myself on the 27th. On the morning of the 27th I went to him and gave him an advance of £5 so as not to disappoint me. I took all my loads to his place. Later the lorry did not travel on the 27th. It was on the 28th in the night by 9 o’clock that it was packed full. It took about five motorcycles, more than 40 bicycles and the load it was carrying was nearly touching the electric wires.

 

We left Kano at 9p.m on the 28th September. When we got to Kaduna by, say, 10 a.m the following day, one soldier on a motorcycle halted us. Many Northerners near the motor park surrounded us. The soldier went into the vehicle, locked the lorry, and went away with the key. He came back with another soldier on a motorcycle. He handed over the key to the driver and then commanded the driver to follow him. Then as we were following him the second soldier was following us behind. They took us into their barracks and ordered all the passengers to come down. They told us to stand in a single file and to lie down with our hands outstretched, looking upwards. One soldier was ordered to count us with his whip. He gave each of us three lashes of the whip and counted us-36 of us. We were then ordered to sit down and four soldiers were standing with their guns pointing at us. We observed that there were two other vehicles in the barracks. We could not see the passengers but the loads were being opened and checked. We thought that we would all be killed. Some of us even started to pray: some started denying that they were Igbos. When it came to our turn for our lorry to be checked, somebody went to the driver and told him that because our loads were so many he should do something to let us go in time. So the driver went out. When he came back he told us that he gave them £20. Later on, we saw the passengers in the other vehicles. They were told to enter and they entered. We were told to enter too and we entered. They took us to their secretariat in Kaduna.

 

Q. 5788: “Government Secretariat?” “No, Army Secretariat.”

 

Q. 5789: “Army Headquarters?” “Army Headquarters. And then they told us to come down again. The soldiers that were coming were saying that we would be slaughtered.”

 

Q. 5790: “The soldiers told you that?” “Yes, the privates that were moving around. They said we would be slaughtered like cows. After waiting for an hour there, they told us to go back into the lorry. Two soldiers escorted us out of the Headquarters until we came to a petrol filling station.”

 

Q. 5791: On what road was this petrol station?” “It was on the road to Jebba.”

 

Q. 5792: “And got you on the Kaduna – Jebba road?” “Kaduna/ Jebba Road, Yes Sir. The drivers decided to bribe the soldiers so that they would lead us as far as Jebba. They collected £1:10s. each and gave to the soldiers.”

 

Q. 5793: “From all the passengers?” “No, the three drivers only. They collected £1:10s. each. The soldiers did not lead us half a mile when two other soldiers met us and told them to go back. One entered the lorry in front and the other entered in the back.”

 

Q. 5794: “What about the two original soldiers?” “They went back.

 

Q. 5795: “After a distance of about half a mile from the petrol filling station?” “Yes, Sir, from the petrol filling station.

 

Q. 5796: “These two soldiers who are now armed, what did they do?” “One was in the front of the lorry and the other was at the back. After a distance of about 10 miles they ordered us to halt. One said that he suspected the loads carried by one passenger and then told the passenger to bring out the box which he suspected. He ordered him to open it. He opened it. He took out something tied in a white pillow case and said it contained a pistol. The owner of the load said it was not a pistol, that he could open it to show that it was not a pistol. The soldier told him that if he touched the case he would shoot him; so the man became afraid and stood back. He told us to go away that they were very kind to us, that after our people had shot their students in the University we were asking them to escort us, that they were very kind, that they should have shot all of us. They moved away. As we were moving away they were shooting in the air.

 

By 7.30 in the evening we came to a village. They started to throw stones and shoot arrows at us. Our driver became nervous but he managed to pass the place with speed. When we came to a place further from the village in front, he stopped and was afraid to pass through the village saying that if we tried to pass they would attack us, that he would first wait to know whether there were some trouble makers there from the drivers coming from that direction. So we stood there until some drivers who were Northerners came up. These drivers confirmed that there was a hostile crowd in front. The driver said we would wait until midnight so that probably by then they might disperse. We were there and somebody was riding a motorcycle going up and down. Later on by 9 o’clock in the evening, we saw a pleasure car coming.”

 

Q. 5797: “What town would this be?” “Birnin Gwari, just 70

miles from Kaduna. The car was coming towards us and we saw many people coming behind the car shouting “Hi! ho! ho!” We became afraid. All of us jumped down from the lorry and some took to the bush. I was in the lorry until they approached to about 30 yards to where I was. When I waved at them they shot me with an arrow on the finger.”

 

Q. 5.798: “Why were you waving at them?” “I thought we could settle things amicably. As I was shot I took to my heels and went into the bush. There I pulled out the arrow and washed the wound in a stream. I wanted to cross the stream but it was too deep. So I stayed on the side. Many of my colleagues were running in and out of the bush. None stopped. I was there until morning. Many vehicles were passing. I came out on the road to see whether I could persuade any of the vehicles to help me. But none agreed to stop.”

 

Q. 5.799: “Where were these vehicles going?” “ They were going to Jebba. So, one young man saw me and spoke to me in Hausa. “Namuni?” (Are you for us), and I answered “stet” (I am for you). So he raised a stone to throw at me. I asked him why he should do that; what did I do to him. He asked me to give him money. I gave him £1. He demanded more; I gave him 10s.; he demanded more; I gave him 10s. Altogether I gave him £2. Then he felt satisfied. I asked him to help me get into a lorry to go to Onitsha. He led me to a point inside the bush. He told me to stay there and not to go out, that they were very many, I stayed there.”

 

Later on he came back, say, after ten minutes, and demanoec1 another £1 from me saying that his friend who had got no money had come, that I should choose between money and my life. I gave him £1 and he went back. But after waiting for him for some time I decided to go on my own to look for a lorry. When I got to the road, I saw some ten of them. They held me. I told them that I had given money to one of their relatives. They asked me to bring the remaining money. As I was trying to bring the money, they took away my hand from my pocket, opened my trousers, looked for money there. They searched for it in my drawers, tore it off, took all the money I had in my drawers and then they poured petrol on me and lit it.

I fell down.”

 

Q. 5800: “They poured petrol on you?” “They poured petrol on me, Sir.”

 

Q. 5801: “So you were on fire?” “They poured petrol all over my head and face and lit a match Then, I became unconscious and did not know what I was doing. It took time for me to know what I was doing. After a few minutes, the fire went off. I stood up, and they were looking at me. I told them that they could finish my life at once instead of burning me and leaving me half-dead. They asked me whether I wanted them to finish my life, I asked them whether I was the person who told them to pour petrol on me. They told me to show them the rest of my companions. I said “no.” Then I crept into the bush and told those people in the bush that I was poured with petrol. I urged them not to come out, and that they should tell people at home what happened to me.

 

I went back to the road. Later on I saw one soldier in a big lorry; he looked at me and went away. I then saw one European and begged him to take me to the hospital, he looked at me and went away also. The Hausas came back. They saw I was not dead and one young man started to hit me with a stick on the neck. I looked up and saw him. He struck me again and told me that they meant me to die. I said ‘May God forgive the Hausas for they do not know what they are doing. May God bring unity to Nigeria.’ One told me: ‘Shut up’ that I would be killed. But one elderly man said: “Leave him alone.” He asked me: ‘What is your name?’ I told him my name. He asked me whether I was an Igbo. I said, yes. He asked me whether from the East, I said yes. He asked me who killed Sarduana. I told him it was Chukwuma Nzeogwu, a person from the Mid-West. He asked me whether he did good work. I told him, no, he did not do good work. He asked me why he was not killed. I told him I don’t not know, that I was not in authority. If I were in authority I would have killed him. He said: ‘All right.’ He kept quiet. Then some of the young men came to that place and told him that they had got some of my colleagues and that one claimed to be a Yoruba man. They told that one who claimed to be a Yoruba to go. They killed the rest with sticks. After some time, one of them reported to the man that they had all died. He told them to go and burn them. So when one of them returned and saw that I was alive, he was annoyed. He started to strike me with sticks on my neck. Later on, they said that this man that refused to die will be burnt with woods. They collected woods to burn me, but the elderly man said they should not burn me. So, they left me. One returned and continued to strike me with sticks, on the back and the neck. After doing so, he went away. I was surprised that I was still alive. In fact my prayer was that I should die and be released from this ordeal. So when I realised that I was still alive, I crept into the bush. There I saw a running stream and started to drink water. After drinking for a while, I sat there. They came back and met me. One said ‘Inyamiri’, I answered, yes.” They said: That man is still alive’ and that they would shoot me with a gun. The elderly man said ’no’, ’don’t shoot him.’ He said: This man has had enough wounds to make him die there’ and that they should leave me because I would certainly die of the wounds. So they left me. When I realised that they had gone away, I crept further into the bush. I crept for some time and stood up and went far into the bush. Then rain started to fall and later on, I fell asleep in the bush there. I saw in my dream that nobody would strike me again and that if anybody tries to strike me again that person would die first. Then I saw some people with whom I was living in Kano and they all promised to go and take my loads. So later I woke up.”

 

Q. 5802: “What happened to the lorry and the loads?” “I could not tell yet. I heard their voices when they were removing the loads from the vehicle. They said they had got the loads but that they had not got anybody yet. So I slept in that bush for about three days and then started to wander about in the bush. And I started to move towards the waterfalls and thinking it was Kainji Dam. After a while, I met a running stream and then a bridge on a road. I looked over the bridge and saw it was there that the water was falling. So I continued to walk along the road and saw that very lorry. They had already loosened the engine and many documents were lying scattered all over the place. I did not see anybody on the lorry again. I continued my journey. Later, I heard the sound of a motor-cycle and became apprehensive and went back into bush. When it passed, I came out. After walking for a time I saw a group of Hausas. One of them after passing me, came back and started to look at me. He asked me whether I wanted bread. I said, yes. He gave me bread. I saw water running in the gutter; I drank and continued my journey until I got to a house I was thinking was a church but when I approached it, it was a P.W.D. camp. I entered there. A woman inside the house started to cry and said she did not know who was entering into their house. I look terrible as my head was swollen and my face burnt. Flies were hovering all over me, and I was naked.

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