Truth committee has discovered mass grave site in Anambra, says Bianca Ojukwu

Bianca Ojukwu, a former ambassador and widow of Chukwuemeka Ojukwu, says the Anambra Truth, Justice and Peace Committee has uncovered a mass grave site in the state. 

The truth, justice and peace committee was constituted in 2022 by Chukwuma Soludo, the state governor, to help address the secessionist agitations, insecurity and other challenges in the state.

Chidi Odinkalu, former chairman of the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), and Ojukwu are the chairman and secretary respectively.

In a statement posted on Wednesday on her Facebook page, Ojukwu said during the course of its public hearing, the commission interrogated a total of 39 witnesses who testified on oath while 243 exhibits were collected.

She added that 322 persons were verified as killed or dead as a result of violence as testified by the witnesses.

“The commission also met with 31 petitioners, including 11 organisations, 19 communities and one individual during the marathon sittings which lasted from Oct. 26 to Nov. 3,” the statement reads.

“18 persons have been categorically identified as missing or disappeared.

“In the course of the proceedings, the gruesome discovery of a mass grave site was brought by testimonies, to the attention of the Commission.

“Chairman of the Commission Prof Chidi Odinkalu mandated that the suspected mass-grave site be sealed for forensic investigation by pathologists. This will help in unravelling who the victims were and the circumstances of their deaths.

“The TJP commission had earlier held the first phase of its public hearing between June and July this year in the course of which we considered 24 petitions and met with 48 witnesses who testified on oath from 14 communities of the state within a 10-day hearing.

“A Bureau of Missing Persons as recommended by this Commission has already been established in the state to document the missing and the circumstances of their disappearance.”