Former Tinubu aide demands Gowon apologize over Civil War comments

Denge Onoh, former Enugu State Assembly member and ex-South-East spokesman for President Tinubu, has demanded that former Head of State Yakubu Gowon apologize to the Igbo people over remarks minimizing Civil War casualties. During a recent Arise Television interview, Gowon observed bullet marks on palm trees in former Biafran territories and concluded that most Nigerian army bullets struck vegetation rather than people. Onoh described these comments as a dangerous minimization of the human tragedy.

The 1967-1970 Nigerian Civil War claimed an estimated three million lives, primarily through starvation and disease resulting from the federal blockade, in addition to civilian casualties from combat operations. Onoh emphasized that reducing the conflict to 'bullets harmlessly striking palm trees' ignores well-documented humanitarian crises, including widespread kwashiorkor among children and mass displacement across the South-East.

Historians have documented the devastating human cost of prolonged fighting, with international reports confirming the scale of suffering during this period. Gowon's comments have reignited discussions about historical reconciliation and the importance of acknowledging the full impact of the conflict on affected communities.

SOURCE: https://dailypost.ng/2026/05/25/civil-war-gowon-should-apologise-to-igbo-onoh/