By the end of March 1969, Uzuakoli had fallen and most of the patients of the Leper Settlement were evacuated to Umuahia Prison to cohabit with non-leprous prisoners.

Shells were by now dropping close to Umuahia and their sounds were very loud. We began to wonder what would happen to us.

The atmosphere in the Prison yard had become very tense and one could easily read the sign of gloom and despair in the faces of most of the warders and wardresses. Yet superintendents Ossai and Nwoko appeared very calm. From our usual sources we were hinted that we too may likely leave Umuahia at short notice. They added that most of the Government offices had started to evacuate and that the atmosphere in town was highly charged.

Our last Sunday at Umuahia was very normal. We had no premonition that that would probably be our last night there. On that day, March 30th, 1969, we had our normal meals, games and activities and were just lazing around within our cell enclosure when Superintendents Ossai and Nwoko came into the yard and gave orders for the "Common detainees" to be evacuated. This exercise started from 5 p.m. until about 8 p.m. when the last batch moved out of the compound. Ossai carne back to our cell. He could sense that we were getting worried. When Crickmar asked him what was going on he merely laughed and said he was only trying to reduce the number of detainees he was feeding. New detention centres had been recently opened and those being evacuated were going to form the nucleus of a new detention centre. Having disarmed us, he cracked a few more jokes and bade us goodnight.

Monday March 31st was equally normal until late in the evening. At 7 p.m., when we were about to have our late dinner the two Superintendents came into our enclosure and just said "Gentlemen, please start packing. Transport will be ready in 30 minutes time." Just like that. We had stayed long enough in detention to know jokes as distinct from orders. Before one could say Jack Robinson two basketfuls of stockfish and some quantity of corned beef were brought to our cell. Two separate lists were produced. The first list contained the names of all our cellmates except those of Ibekwe, Adeola, I and those now regarded as Prisoners after having gone through Nkemena's court. Each of us was given four pieces of medium sized stockfish and two tins of corned beef. In addition each group on the separate list was given a bag of "formular 2". We were grateful for their generosity. This was too special a way to say farewell and we wondered if real starvation was awaiting us at our destination.

At 8 pm. the, first batch ofWakama, Ero, Akpan, Carlos, etc moved out of the cell with their belongings. Our moment of separation was very painful. We had come a long way together and had shared our sorrows and hardships. We had lived a communal sort of life and the illness of one caused the anxiety of the others. If we had any cause for argument the elders amongst us quickly but sternly reminded us that except we lived as brothers we may not find it easy to survive the detention. With the release of Ikpo and Ben, Barrister Iguegbe was the only Pro-Biafran left in our cell. He minded his own business and concentrated on the writing of his books. He was no headache to us. The previously unpredictable neutrals had been so embittered after their 20 year sentences by Justice Nkemena that they became more pro-Nigeria than even Ibekwe, Adeola or 1. Maduka was too old to care about who won the war. His only desire was to be allowed to go and die peacefully in his hometown, Awka.

All things that have a beginning must have an end. The time had come that we must pan. With sorrowful hearts we shook hands and like Brutus to Cassius in Shakespeare's Julius Caesar we said, "Whether we shall meet again, we do not know, therefore, our everlasting farewell take for ever and ever. If we do meet again, why, we shall smile. If not, then this planning was well made".

On our list the only "Special detainees" were Ibekwe, Adeola, myself and Moses Ekpo from cell "A". The remaining passengers were made up of a few "Common detainees" and members of the families of some of the warders that were going on transfer with us. It was weeks later, after we had arrived at our destinations and established contacts that we knew that our colleagues of the first batch were sent to Achina. We also knew that the Owerri contingent which included Ibekwe Senior (Mike), Olu Akpata and Joseph Imokhuede were evacuated to Achina when Owerri was threatened. It was, therefore, a top-level decision that for security measures it was necessary and prudent to extract our names from Achina list. Our transportation from Umuahia to our unknown destination was more humane than that from Okigwe to Umuahia. The sitting arrangements, though uncomfonable, were more reasonable and the fact that we had some families of the warders with us made the journey more natural despite the armed escort. At 8.30 p.m. and for the first time since June 1968, we stepped outside the Prison gate and moved directly into the waiting lorry with our belongings. The moon was full and very bright when Ossai and Nwoko finally shook hands with us, bade us God's protection, and ordered the driver to move. The rime was precisely 9 p.m. when we pulled our of Umuahia Prison yard into the main road. We headed for the centre of town and found our way into Umuahia-Owerri road. The streets seemed deserted and there was almost complete blackout in all the houses. As we passed by, and with the help of the clear sky and marvellously bright moonlight we were able to see some of the bombed sites and the wreck that was left of the Umuahia that I used to know. Within 10 minutes we had driven past familiar landmarks and the numerous road blocks and check-points into darkness and the wilderness. We did not get to our destination until 12.30 a.m., having covered in 3/4 hours, a distance of about 40 miles over very bad roads, with delays at the various village check-points.