Still battling for his life from a hospital bed, Onuoha Godwin speaks in a trembling voice — soft, wounded, but determined. His body bears the scars of gunshot wounds to the hand and stomach, yet it’s the trauma in his eyes that tells the fuller story of what happened that evening in Ogboji, Anambra State.
On that day, what was meant to be a simple community gathering turned into a bloodbath.
Godwin, a member of the Ebonyi State Welfare Association in Ogboji, was among the dozens gathered for their regular monthly meeting — something the group of mostly working-class men and women do to stay connected, offer support to one another, and build community in a land away from home.
But all that sense of belonging shattered in seconds.
“Toward evening, just when we were about to end the meeting, we saw men walk in with guns,” Godwin recounted, his voice heavy with disbelief. “We thought maybe it was the police — a raid or something. But they weren’t here to arrest anyone. They came to kill.”
In his account, the armed men wasted no time. Without warning, they opened fire. People screamed. Some tried to run. Most hit the floor. But even that didn’t protect them.
Their first question chilled everyone: “Who is Augustine Odogwu?”
Augustine, the chairman of the association’s Ogboji chapter, appeared to be the prime target. What followed next was pure horror. The attackers ordered everyone to lie down, then began dragging individuals up one by one, demanding to know who Augustine was. Godwin, terrified and already wounded, was asked again — and when he pointed out Augustine, they executed him in cold blood.
“They shot him right in front of us,” he said, his voice cracking. “Then they turned and shot me again.”
The gunmen left at least 11 people dead and many more injured. Their motives remain unclear, though the calculated nature of the attack and the specific targeting suggest more than a random act of violence.
Godwin’s story, captured in a now-viral video in his native dialect, has sparked widespread outrage, especially in Ebonyi State, where the victims hailed from. Calls for justice are growing louder, and security agencies have been urged to launch a thorough investigation into the massacre.
Meanwhile, survivors like Godwin are left not only with physical wounds but with emotional ones that may never fully heal.
“We were just there for our usual meeting,” he said. “We never imagined it would be our last.”
As Nigeria continues to grapple with rising insecurity, the Ogboji massacre is a chilling reminder of how easily peace can be shattered — and how urgently the country needs to protect its most vulnerable communities.
