Former member of the Enugu State House of Assembly and ex-South-East spokesman for President Bola Tinubu, Denge Onoh, has criticised former Head of State Yakubu Gowon over his remarks on civilian casualties during the Nigerian Civil War, describing them as a dangerous downplaying of the conflict’s human toll.
Onoh was reacting to an interview Gowon granted on Arise Television, where the former military leader reportedly recounted visiting former Biafran areas after the war and noticing black marks on palm trees, which he was told were bullet impacts. Gowon was also quoted as saying that “most of the bullets fired by the Nigerian army hit palm trees, not people.”
Onoh rejected the claim, insisting it contradicts established historical records, eyewitness accounts and international reports on the civil war. He said the Nigerian Civil War (1967–1970) resulted in an estimated three million deaths, largely from starvation, disease linked to blockade conditions, and direct combat operations.
“Reducing these horrors to bullets harmlessly striking palm trees does not withstand basic scrutiny. 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.” Onoh said
He further questioned Gowon’s interpretation of the war in his autobiography My Life of Duty and Allegiance, suggesting it reinforced a defensive narrative of the conflict. According to Onoh, presenting the war as a “police action” while downplaying civilian suffering amounted to personal justification rather than full historical accountability.
While acknowledging Gowon’s post-war “No Victor, No Vanquished” policy and the 3Rs programme, Reconciliation, Rehabilitation and Reconstruction, Onoh said true national healing required honest acknowledgment of victims’ suffering. He warned that attempts to soften or reframe the war through “anecdotes like the palm trees story” risk undermining public trust in the historical record.
Onoh ucited global examples of wartime remorse, including U.S. officials involved in the Vietnam War and German leaders who later apologised for Second World War atrocities.
“In light of this, General Gowon owes the Igbo people a simple, sincere apology for the suffering endured during the war,” Onoh stated.
