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Nigeria: 888 Days in Biafra (29)

5 October 2008

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Helped Adeola make his bed, and at 3.30 am we called it a day and hit the sac.Normal routine life in Prison starts at 6 am except for the kitchen staff, who normally start preparing breakfast (beans) at 4 am.

At this stage of the war, and particularly at Ntueke, food was never expected until around 4 pm if at all there would be any. We had been briefed about this as part of the welcoming ceremony from Drs. Ene and Fiberesima.

However, a week before our arrival, the local Red Cross had at long last included Nrueke Prison on their list and started the supply of hot milk to be alternated with a bowel of "Formular 2" and a sizeable quantity of stockfish every other day. To Nrueke inmates before our arrival, this was a God-sent Xmas feast. There is a Nigerian proverb which says that, a child always thinks that his father's farm is the biggest in the world until he has seen another. So, when we related the sort of comfort we had enjoyed at Umuahia they sighed and cursed their ill-luck. Whatever we had enjoyed at Umuahia had now become history. We were soon to see what life had in store for us at Nrueke.

Superintendent Chikezie (an Onitsha man) and his Chief Warder, Ifediba came round on their normal official morning rounds. As I said earlier, Onitsha people were not much in the good books of the real Biafrans. They came under some measure of suspicion and were remotely kept under observation. This was an open secret, which every Onitsha man knew. So, those of them that were still free and engaged in one Directorate or the other, had to be extra carefullest they exposed themselves to possible detention under very flimsy pretext. Mr. Chikezie, as an Onitsha man, now had prominent Onitsha men like Dr. Chike Obi and Senator Dan Ibekwe in his prison. You could see from his countenance that morning as he entered our cell and was greeted "Good morning Sir" by Ibekwe (the pride of Onitsha people) that he was a very worried and extremely unhappy man. He hurriedly finished his inspection and left with instruction to his chief warder that we be brought to his office later in the morning for the official initiation ceremony. Nrueke improvised Prison was about three times the size of Umuahia Prison, but approximately the size of Okigwe prison. Unlike at Umuahia where our cell was less than 20 yards from the office block, at Nrueke our cell was about 150 yards from the main gate. The office block itself was outside this main gate, and some yards from it. So, unlike at Umuahia where we could come out of our cell and move freely within our cell enclosure, and moreover see everything that was happening in and around the office block through our "Television Channels" on the palm-leave fence, at Nrueke we were permantly locked in our cell, and it will only be superfluous to say that not only, we were cut off from the outside world, but we were also cut off from what was going around in Nrueke Prison. We had pipe-borne water at Umuahia and so, we were able to have our baths daily and whenever we want. Even though soap was no longer supplied by Prison authority yet we had enough soap from sister Thomas, Caritas and all other sources of food supplies like International Red Cross and World Council Churches. Thanks to the efforts of Superintendents Ossai and Nwoi. These privileges were, however, only peculiar to our so-called "Special Detainees" cell alone.

At N tueke it was different. Our only source of water supply was a SIT stream some three miles away. About 4-5 sets of "Water gangs" fetched needed water and distributed to staff quarters, kitchen and the cells in descending order. The number of buckets of water reaching the cells was therefore, very limited and consequently only meant for drinking. Taking bath was ruled out and it was considered a big concession to get the "water gang" to provide additional water for bath for inmates of the "Special Cell" every Monday morning. Having arrived Nrueke on Monday night, it was only logical to conclude that we, the new comers, would have to wait another six days to have a bath. Meanwhile we just had to be contented "do as the Romans do". That is, imitate those we met in the cell and " clean'" every morning with small quantity of water from our drink ration. As for those in the "Common cell" there was usually no enough water per drinking cup to go round the inmates. Most of them are already too weak to get up anyway, and those who were still strong enough waylaid the water gang at their cell door. The result of the ensuing scramble was that, only the fittest got a cupful of drinking water while a great proportion of it, invariably spilled on the floor. To them bath was regarded as the most expensive luxury to ask for. With luck, they could have a semblance of it once a month. As for food they were only given half the ration supplied to those in the "Special cell" and as could be expected the strongest grabbed the food from those that were already weak and about "quarter-to-die". Little wonder, therefore, that the death rate of Nrueke was very high particularly among the inmates of the "Common cell".

At 9 am on our first morning at Nrueke our initiation ceremony started. The four of us (Ibekwe, Adeola, Ekpo and I) were marched to the office block by the Chief Warder and his bodyguard of armed soldiers. One by one, we were taken in to be interviewed by the Superintendent. Before we left the cell, in anticipation of this interview, we had decided to take advantage of the fact that as an Onitsha man, Chikezie would treat Mr. Ibekwe with some amount of respect and dignity. We would utilize this opportunity to demand as many privileges as we had enjoyed at Umuahia. For instance, the privilege to keep our knives, forks and spoons, shaving sets, novels, watches and some extra clothes. We were also to ask for supply of salt and such other Caritas relief supplies. In addition, we were to request that, we, be allowed to keep our drugs. To derive maximum benefit from this interview, we were to request that we, be allowed to inter­view the Superintendent jointly as a body. Under whatever circumstances, Dan Ibekwe was to seek interview first and to subsequently become our spokesman. Adeola would ably support him while Ekpo and I were merely to concur whenever it became necessary.

By the time we became duly sworn in as Nrueke inmates and an inventory of our personal effects taken, we had succeeded in getting almost all our requests granted with the exception of the supply of salt and relief food. He, however, promised to try his best to put our proposition to test. That is, arrange for us to make personal representation and interview with any available Reverend Brothers or Sisters or any local Caritas and Red Cross representatives. He explained that his difficulty was that, Nrueke was off the track and remotely removed from the main Red Cross and Caritas food distribution centers. Transport had become a big problem and hence it was difficult to get adequate relief supplies. He however assured us that he would do his best.

When we returned to the cell and brought back with us all such previously unheard of articles as knife, fork, blades, novels, wrist watches and spared clothing and related what transpired at the interview, our cell mates were absolutely dumbfounded. They just couldn't believe their eyes and ears. Ibekwe then lectured them like school children, on the advantages of working together as a team. This becomes more necessary if we are to survive, he said. To this end, it was necessary that we each realize that as co­sufferers we are each other's keeper. It was very senseless to curry favour with the authorities at the expense of your fellow co-sufferer. In this business of detention it was, therefore, proper that we regard ourselves as brothers and act accordingly. To make the situation more surprising, we had been permitted to carry our bag of "Formula 2" that was issued to us as a parting present by Superintendents Ossai and Nwoko of Umuahia into our cell for our exclusive use. With all this wonders, it is needless to say that within the hour our fellow cellmates that had hitherto been spying on each other decided to bury the hatchet. Long John, after due consultation with some of the inmates, called the attention of the house to the need for us to hold an important discussion on how to interview the Superintendent.

Nrueke Prison yard was in the form of a 200 x 150 yards rectangle of classroom blocks with a large football field in the center. To turn it into a detention center from the normal Secondary Modern school that it used to be, an eight-foot palm-leave fence had been erected round the premises provided with only one gate for entrance and exit. Armed soldiers on guard duty inside and outside this fortress completed the security measures for the maximum-security prison that it later turned out to be. As you enter through the main gate, and starting from the left, are two blocks of three classrooms each. The first block (Cell A) accommodated the ordinary prisoners of all categories. They performed all normal prison duties and were free to move about during their normal hours of duty or exercise.

The second block (Cell B) consisted of three classrooms with a 5ft high wall partitioning them. For prison purposes, these partitions were extended to the roof with raffia mats and barbed wires. Each classroom measures about 30 x 20ft. The first classroom of Cell B ccommodated some 30-40.

War Prisoners headed by Captain Adedipe and Lt. Abdulkareem Adisa. The second classroom was originally used by awaitingtrial murderers who had to be evacuated to Cell C to join the already condemned but not yet executed prisoners, when we arrived Ntueke. The third classroom accommodated us, the special detainees.

At right angles to these blocks, that is, the side of the rectangle opposite the main gate, were two other blocks one of which was uncompleted and not yet roofed when the civil war started. Later this block was completed with Prison funds and used for holding Mass every Tuesday morning and also for receiving treatment from the visiting Caritas medical personnel on Tuesday evenings. The finished block (Cell C) also contained three class­rooms. The first was occupied by a mixture of about 70 awaiting trial and already condemned murderers. About 30 madmen occupied the second and the third was occupied by sick detainees who on the recommendation of the Prison Nurse/Warder had been transferred from the turbulent Cell D to die quietly unmolested. That section of Cell C was sympathetically referred to as "Journey's end". The overcrowded Cell D took all the ordi­nary detainees and soldiers.

At right angles to this block of cells and, that is, directly opposite to our cell, was the common detainees block consisting of four classrooms. The first section, starting from "Journey's end" side was occupied by Biafran soldier (Other ranks) detainees. The next two sections contained all the common detainees. 99.99 percent of the almost stark-naked 350-400 inmates were of Rivers and South Eastern States origin. The death rate amongst them and those of "Journey's end" was very high, varying from 15-20 daily. They were replenished with new detainees. Not only did they die from starvation alone, but also from dirt, filth, overcrowding and squalor. In all detention centers these class of detainees usually received minimal attention. The last section was equally overcrowded. It consisted of the ordinary criminals still awaiting trial. They often jeered at the detainees and called us all sorts of names. As all detainees, special or no special, were generally and constantly referred to as "Sabo" (Saboteurs) these "awaiting trials" were very anxious to get out of our environment to go to court.

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