Following the Aba Women’s War in December 1929, the government set up a Commission of Inquiry in January 1930.
The use of the Lewis machine gun to shoot the women was given a robust defence by Captain Cornish: “The Lewis Gun is a very dependable weapon to keep mobs in distance. The only way to disperse an unruly mob is to kill them all.” The shooter, Lt. Browning said: “I set the machine gun ready. This is a weapon of defence and more easy to control than rifles. I gave the order to fire.
The mood of the women, who at some point numbered about 5000, was described by Warrant Chief Akpan-Akpan Obo of Midim, whose wife, Mary Udo Ekpo, was killed on the Etim-Ekpo-Abak Road: “I reported to the District Officer , Capt. Henry James that a crowd of women like ants on the road were coming into Abak. Most of the women had big machetes and sticks; and they tied certain leaves on their heads. I saw sign of fighting.
He directed the firing. Few bursts went wide – either too high or low – a few bursts, four or five, took some effect and firing ceased. The mob started to run back and troops went after them… I saw several corpses and a number of wounded women… But there was widespread dissatisfaction about the composition of the Birrell-Gray Commission. This saw the creation of a new “more representative” Commission of Inquiry in February 1930 to “inquire into the disturbances in Calabar and Owerri in December last year.” It was chaired by Mr Donald Kingdon and had several Africans as commissioners, such as Sir Kitoyi Ajasa and Mr Eric O. Moore. Barristers, including Steven B. Rhodes, M. Thompson, J. S. Benjamin, E. E. Esin, S. Macaulay and W. R.
The testimonies of and about women were harrowing. Mary Ebritim said she was shot in the left arm and breast, and along with Jana Umana, was treated for bullet wounds. Florence Ann Stewart said her two sisters were shot dead by soldiers and buried by the government. Nwokoba, a native doctor, testified that his pregnant wife, Oyiridio, was beaten to death.
The official report states that: nine women were killed at Etim-Ekpo; in Opobo 29 got killed or died from wounds and eight drowned. Many more received gunshot wounds and there were a number of unconfirmed deaths. Witnesses also spoke of women being “openly stripped on the roads, ravished freely and indecently assaulted, but were too ashamed to come forward to say so.”
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