A British-Nigerian filmmaker, whose name has become synonymous with Grammy-winning music videos, is now turning his lens on a family secret buried in the bloodied soil of the Biafran war. In a documentary set to premiere in London next month, director Samuel Osundina claims to have uncovered documents that link his grandfather to a massacre that aid agencies have tried to forget. Sources confirm the film contains interviews with survivors who have never before spoken publicly about the atrocities committed during the 1967-1970 civil war.
Osundina, 42, known for his slick visuals and Grammy wins for artists like Adele and Beyoncé, says he grew up knowing only that his grandfather ‘disappeared’ during the conflict. But a cache of letters found in a Lagos bank vault tells a different story. ‘My grandfather was not a victim. He was a commander in the Biafran army, and he ordered the execution of hundreds of civilians in Asaba in 1967. These are the facts. The letters and military records confirm it. I went home expecting to find a hero. I found a killer.’
The film, titled 'Asaba: A Family Reckoning', has already drawn fury from Nigerian government officials who claim it is a ‘revisionist attack on national unity’. A spokesman for the Nigerian High Commission in London called the documentary ‘a sensationalist exploitation of a painful past’ and demanded a retraction of what he called ‘baseless allegations against a man who cannot defend himself’. But Osundina insists he has the evidence. ‘I hold in my hands the original order signed by my grandfather. It states, ‘All non-Biafran elements in Asaba must be eliminated. No survivors.’ That is not baseless. That is a war crime.’
The Biafran war claimed an estimated three million lives, mostly from starvation, but the extent of ethnic cleansing in the early months remains under-investigated. British and American intelligence files, many still classified, hint at a covert arms pipeline that fuelled the conflict. Osundina’s film will reportedly show that his grandfather’s unit was supplied by a now-defunct UK-based shell company registered on the Isle of Man. ‘This is not just a family story. This is about the unaccountable power of the arms industry and the complicity of Western governments who looked the other way while millions died,’ the director told this reporter in a phone interview.
The documentary has won backing from the UK’s Arts Council and is being distributed by a prominent independent film company. It has already been praised by historians who have long argued that the Biafran genocide has been erased from mainstream history. ‘This is vital, uncomfortable history,’ said Dr. Yvonne Agbaje of the University of London, who served as a consultant on the project. ‘The war was as much about oil as it was about ethnic conflict, and we have never fully reckned with the role of British corporations in prolonging it. Osundina’s willingness to confront his own family legacy is a model for how we should all engage with our past.’
But not everyone is convinced. Some in the Nigerian diaspora have accused Osundina of ‘airing dirty laundry’ in front of a white audience. The director is unapologetic. ‘History is not a monument to be polished. It is a crime scene. And someone has to investigate. If that means exposing my own bloodline, so be it.’ The film premieres on October 12 at the Curzon Bloomsbury. Expect protests. Expect questions. And expect the truth to have jagged edges.
