Biafran war: I was arrested and jailed for 30 months – Actor Fabian Adibe narrates terrifying experience

Actor, Fabian Adibe has disclosed that he was jailed for 30 months after joining Biafra forces in the Nigerian civil war.

In an interview with BBC Igbo, The actor spoke about how the pogrom of 1966 made him join the Ojukwu Special Task Force.

According to him, he was already acting but opted to join the army after a pregnant woman was murdered in the open.

Adibe also claimed he underwent grueling training before his team was deployed to Ibadan for an operation with explosives.The Thespian added that they were all arrested and imprisoned in Lagos for 30 months until the civil war ended in 1970.

His words;

“1966 coup happened. The north felt that the coup plotters had them in mind, hence, they started killing Igbos in vengeance, leading to an exodus from the north back to the east, and the three-year war that followed,” he said.

“I went to war with [Odumegwu] Ojukwu’s task force. We were caught in Ibadan and put in the maximum security prison in Lagos. I was there for 30 months. It started when a pregnant woman was killed and her baby ripped out.

“She was put on the train and we went there to see for yourselves. It hurt the Igbo. If someone offended you and you killed both their parents and their kid for it, you shouldn’t extend hostility to the entire people of their tribe.

“I entered my name to join the army because the agric minister made it open. We were taken to join the Ojukwu Special Task Force and trained, climbing mountains, getting immersed in water, and flying on an aircraft.

“We were given explosives to cut off the route of the federal soldiers, including rails and bridges. On getting to Ibadan, we didn’t know how the police and army learned of our plans. We were arrested and photographed.

“No one asked what our mission was. We were imprisoned all through the war. 1970 was when we were released.”

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