Former member of the Enugu State House of Assembly and ex-South-East spokesman for President Bola Tinubu, Denge Onoh, has explained why former Head of State Yakubu Gowon should apologize to the Igbo over his recent comments on civilian casualties during the Nigerian Civil War.
Onoh faulted Gowon’s remarks during an interview on Arise Television, describing them as a dangerous attempt to downplay the scale of human suffering recorded during the war.
Gowon had recalled visiting former Biafran territories after the conflict and noticing black spots on palm trees, which he said he was told were bullet marks. According to him, the observation suggested that many bullets fired by federal troops struck palm trees instead of people.
Reacting in a statement, Onoh said the comments contradicted historical records, eyewitness accounts, and international reports documenting the devastation caused by the war.
He argued that the remarks failed to acknowledge the magnitude of the tragedy experienced in the South-East during the conflict fought between 1967 and 1970.
According to Onoh, an estimated three million people died during the war, with many victims succumbing to starvation and disease linked to the federal blockade, while others were killed in combat operations, bombings, and reprisals.
“Reducing these horrors to bullets harmlessly striking palm trees does not withstand basic scrutiny,” Onoh said.
“It ignores the well-documented humanitarian crisis, including widespread kwashiorkor among children, mass displacement, and the devastating human cost of prolonged fighting across the South-East.”
