Reginald Sagay
Jul 24, 2017 · 5 min read

THE CONCEPT OF TRANSITIONAL JUSTICE AND THE BIAFRA GENOCIDE(THE NIGERIAN CIVIL WAR):

Transitional Justice consists of Judicial and non-Judicial measures implemented in order to redress legacies of human rights abuses. Such measures includes criminal prosecution,truth commission,reparation programs etc. The core value of transitional justice is the very notion of justice which is linked towards a More peaceful and certain democratic future. Societies and individuals are entitled to know the truth about the mass human right violations in the wake of armed conflict. All cultures recognises the importance of proper mourning to achieve personal and communal healing. International Law recognises the right of victims and survivors to know about the circumstances of serious violations of their human rights and about who was responsible. There is Right of the society to know the truth. Truth seeking helps in knowing why certain people were targeted for abuse. This truth seeking includes investigative steps in protecting evidence,compiling archieves,interviewing victims etc.

One thing Africa seems to be good at is forgiveness and reconciliation when it comes to moving from bouts of terrible bloodshed and conflict, and not allowing bitter memories to derail the struggle for progress,Africa has much to teach the other continents. Take Nigeria for example, the Biafran war in the late 1960s, resulted in some one million deaths. (Ten times more than the Bosnian war). Today it seems of little political relevance, which perphaps explains why it is often overlooked. Of course,Nigerians and especially the igbo people who suffered the most in the war,had not forgotten Biafra. A paradise and a promise land they hope to see some day. “The Land of the Rising Sun”.

The Atrocities of the federal government and its troops were swept under the carpet during the war.

Who would not have protected his own? Around september 1967 between 30 to 40 thousand ibos were killed in massive anti ibo riots in the Hausa territory,was Odumegwu Ojukwu the then Governor of East Central state wrong to have issued a call for his tribesmen to return to the safety of their Eastern homeland? Who wouldn’t fight for family especially when the extended family had killed a lot of their own. The War had its roots in tribalism,the baffling politicial history of Nigeria makes it impossible to point a finger of guilt at any particular group but for the sake of transitional Justice, the seriously wounded victims must be apologised to. The Federal Government still has the opportunity to reconcile. It took almost 20 years after the violence in northern Uganda for the government to begin discussions towards reconciliation. This reconcilaition should involve admittance of guilt by the federal government of Nigeria and the forgiveness of victims through some sort of dialogue.

Federal Government of Nigeria must apologies for using stavation as a tool and weapon of warfare against the igbos. The Northen elders must also apologize for the massacre of over 40 thousand igbos before the war. This shows that even before the civil war the genocide had begun.

The Federal Government delibrately committed war crimes as they broke Article 8(2)(b)(xxv) of the Rome statute and geneva convention which stated that the intentional using of starvation of civilians as a method of warfare by depriving them of objects indispensible to their survival including willfully impeding relief supplies as provided for under the Geneva conventions. Also Article 7(2)(b) of the same statute defined “Extermination” as intentional infliction of conditions of life, inter alia the deprivation of access to food and medicine,calculated to bring about the destruction of part of a population. Article 6 of the Rome statute defined Genocide to be acts committed with intents to destroy in whole or in part a national,ethnical,racial or religious group. This provision tells you the intention of the hausa’s when they massacred over 40 thousand igbos in the north before the war. This is a comlete act of genocide and extermination of a race by another. Now tell me don’t these people need an apology? Was the masscre before the civil war different from the massacre in Rwanda or congo?

Victims of surviours of Genocide need to know why they were targeted for destruction. Forgiveness and Restitution is the Key. The real perpetrators may be dead but their countrymen are still alive to apologize. The surviving igbo race are still trying to get along with this pain. Some are poor or childless because of this act. Some families had been wiped out a long time ago. They say time heals all wounds but horrors of Genocide is a grave exception as they will live forever with the scars of their past.

The Federal Government of Nigeria should create a committee of restitution and reconciliation as these victims deserves an explanation for the mass staughter. In October 1968 the World Council of Churches Relief Program in Biafra estimated deaths from starvation at 186,000 in july,310,000 in August and 360,000 in september. Relief flights of food to biafra,which reached an average of 15–18 a night, reduced the death in october to about 200,000. Forecast predicted that 25,000 deaths a day in december unless a cease-fire was called. The federal government policy of Reconstruction and Reconciliation after the war was not arranged in a way as it would be required by rules of justice. The Government was busy building and reconstructing damages in Nigerian walls instead of restoring the lives of the victims back. Nigerian government made a flat exchange payment,worth 56 US dollars to each of the 200,000 persons who deposited biafran currency in the central bank.

What has happened to the concept of “Jus post bellum”; what about Justice after war. What were the compensation given to the victims for losses incured,what were the political reharbilitation provided for victims. A committee for Reconciliation, reparation and truth must be set up by the federal government to finally heal this eternal wound. This is why transitional Justice is inevitable because its effect is to ensure that another war does not emerge. This is why forgiveness and apology is inevitible. I shall conclude with the slogan of the Nigeria civil war which says “ To keep Nigeria One is a task that must be done”.

By. LORD REGINALD SAGAY.

LORD OF THE LEAGUE OF JUSTICE.