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Truth Over Empire is more than a website—it's a resistance.
Truth Over Empire is more than a website—it's a resistance. A justice-driven platform exposing the dark legacy and ongoing consequences of British colonialism, especially its role in the Biafran Genocide and the continued suppression of Igbo self-determination. Founded by Emmanuel Ogbuanu (an economic and social activist), the platform fights to bring truth into the light, demand accountability, and empower communities long silenced by empire.
Why "Truth Over Empire"?
Between 1967–1970, over 3 million Igbos were killed—starved, bombed, and forgotten by history—with active support from the United Kingdom. The BBC's whitewashing of this genocide is not just a media failure; it is a crime of omission. And guess what? The genocidal war was financed by guarantees of oil by British Petroluem (formerly Shell-BP).
- 📌Biafra: Britain's Shame – The Guardian (2018)
- 📌Declassified UK: Britain's Support for Biafra Starvation Policy
- 📌BBC Bias During the Biafran War – Premium Times (2022)
These atrocities must not remain buried under empire propaganda. We are lifting the veil.
The Iva Valley Massacre – Britain's Forgotten Bloodshed in Enugu
On November 18, 1949, the coal miners of Iva Valley in Enugu, Southeastern Nigeria, gathered not for protest, but for survival. They were on strike, demanding fair wages, safe working conditions, and dignity after years of exploitation under British colonial rule. What followed was not negotiation, but murder—an act of colonial terror that remains buried in history books yet etched in the collective memory of the Igbo people.
That day, British colonial police officers opened fire on unarmed Igbo workers—21 miners were gunned down, and dozens more were injured. Their crime? Demanding that the British colonial government and its corporate agents recognize them as human beings, not just cogs in the empire's resource-extraction machine.
📍 Historical Context: Exploiting Black Gold
The Enugu coalfields were central to the colonial economy. British companies extracted wealth while local miners faced dangerous tunnels, poor ventilation, and near-slavery conditions. When miners tried to organize through the Nigerian African Mineworkers Union, the colonial authorities cracked down hard.
Tensions rose after the British refused to honor negotiated agreements on pay and conditions. When the miners downed their tools and remained at the mine, armed colonial police were dispatched. Rather than resolve a labor dispute, the British responded as they had in Kenya, India, and elsewhere: with bullets.
🩸 What Really Happened That Day?
According to eyewitness accounts and surviving colonial records, the miners were gathered peacefully inside the coal mine. Without warning, Major F.S. Philip, a British officer, ordered his men to open fire on the workers. Some tried to flee. Others were shot in the back. Many bled to death as no medical assistance was provided.
- 📄Colonial Officer's Report (UK National Archives CO 537/6245).
- 📄Official Inquiry: The Foster Sutton Commission (1950) – Never held the UK liable.
- 📄Nigerian Tribune Archives: "Remembering the Iva Valley 21".
🤐 Media Silence and Colonial Whitewashing
Despite the brutality of the event, the British media downplayed the massacre, framing it as a riot control incident. The BBC made no real investigation into the structural racism or economic injustice that led to the strike. No reparations were paid. No British officers were tried. The miners' families were left with nothing but trauma and a buried story.
This was not an isolated event. The Iva Valley massacre reflects the standard operating procedure of the empire: extract, exploit, silence, repeat.
⚖️ Call for Accountability
To this day, no formal apology or compensation has ever been made by the United Kingdom to the families of those murdered. The records are there. The names are known. Yet justice remains elusive.
At Truth Over Empire, we call for:
- A full declassification of British colonial records related to Iva Valley.
- An official UK government apology.
- Financial reparations to surviving families and communities.
- The inclusion of Iva Valley in all curricula related to Nigerian and British colonial history.
- A memorial fund and justice campaign supported by civil society and international human rights bodies.
Voices That Refuse to Die
Many descendants of the Iva Valley 21 are still alive—silenced by poverty, forgotten by governments, but burning with memory. We are currently collecting testimonies and oral histories from the families of those who were killed or wounded that day.
📄 Testimony: "My Father Never Came Home" – Chinedu Nwokolo, Son of an Iva Valley Miner
"I was only seven when my father left for work at the Iva Valley Coal Mine that morning. He had blisters on his hands, but he still smiled and kissed my forehead. That was the last time I saw him."
"They told us he was shot by the white man's police. Shot while asking for better pay to feed his children. My mother cried until her voice was gone. The British officer who gave the order never faced a court, never said sorry."
"We were left with nothing. No pension. No justice. Only silence. And a grave that still hasn't been marked properly to this day."
"They tried to bury his story, but we remember. And we speak."
📄 Testimony: "We Were Treated Like Animals" – Ngozi Edumeh, Widow of a Slain Miner
"It was a Friday. I remember because I had just returned from the stream when the shots began. At first, I thought it was thunder. But the screaming that followed told a different story."
"My husband, Ozoemena, had gone to the mines like he did every morning for the past nine years. He worked those tunnels so our children could eat. He wasn't a fighter—he just wanted to be paid what he was owed."
"When they brought his body back, it was wrapped in an old mining sack. There were bullet holes in his chest and back. One of his eyes was still open. I held our youngest child in my arms and told her that Papa was gone. I didn't know how to explain why."
"The white men who gave the order to shoot never came to our compound. They didn't see the hunger. They didn't see the children who cried at night. We were treated like animals—used, discarded, forgotten."
"Now you come asking for our stories. I will tell you. I will never stop telling you. Because they must hear. The world must hear."
🕯️ Never Again Is Now
Iva Valley is not just history—it's a symbol of imperial violence that continues to shape post-colonial Nigeria and the treatment of its people, especially in the Southeast. It's a wound still open, a truth still buried.
We urge you to join the campaign to shine light on this dark chapter, and to demand justice for those whose only crime was asking to be treated as human beings.
"They didn't just kill miners. They killed a dream for justice. But we're bringing that dream back to life."
Our Mission
Expose Historical and Ongoing Injustice
We research and publish archival evidence, diplomatic cables, and suppressed reports documenting British complicity in African bloodshed.
- 📄Coming Soon: [Declassified Intelligence Files – Truth Over Empire Archives].
- 📄[Biafra Files Archive – PDF Collection].
Hold the UK and Its Institutions Accountable
Using international legal frameworks, we are assembling evidence and drafting briefs for legal actions in multiple jurisdictions.
- 📎[Legal Brief: UK Complicity in the Biafran Genocide (PDF)].
- 📎[Draft Submission to the ICC – Genocide & Crimes Against Humanity].
Center Igbo Testimonies and Resistance Stories
The most powerful truths come from lived experience. We are collecting first-hand survivor testimonies from the Biafran War, from present-day repression, and from diasporic struggles.
- 📢[Submit Your Story – Survivor Testimony Form].
📄 "Chased Across Borders: How My Dreams got attacked in Rwanda"
By Emmanuel Ogbuanu
I left Nigeria not because I hated it, but because I dreamed of something more—freedom to build, freedom to speak, and freedom to exist without fear. Like many in the diaspora, I carried not just a passport, but a responsibility: to rise, to return, to rebuild. And I chose Rwanda to build that future.
In Kigali, 2021, I planted my flag—Bigkoko, a business born from grit and vision. I offered services in e-commerce, item rentals, business support, digital solutions, and gift card technology. My company employed locals, collaborated with partners abroad, and introduced innovation to a growing economy. For a while, it felt like home, and we expanded to Sweden.
But dreams, when they threaten power, are often marked for destruction.
In early 2025, without warning or proper explanation, the Rwandan authorities cancelled my work documentation. I was labeled an NS Threat—undesirable. They seized my passport, interrogated me, and told me to leave the country. I had committed no crime. There were no charges, no trial. Just a quiet, coordinated purge of my presence.
I fought back. Engaged experts, then I later discovered what I had feared all along: this was not just Rwanda's doing. This was pressure from Nigeria's political operatives—who saw my outspoken advocacy for self determination through a peaceful, free referendum and justice for the Igbo people, as dangerous. After calling out head of MI6 (UK's equivalent of CIA) Sir Richard Moore on X, Some say the UK's silent hand was involved too, watching from behind colonial shadows, tightening old levers of control. But I never knew a Goverment that remembers the genocide against the Tutsi on yearly basis will be a handy tool of suppression to another people who suffered similar fate!
They could not touch me in Nigeria, as i wasnt there, they dare not in Sweden because it would be a dangerous oversight ~ so they reached across Africa's borders.
My business finance collapsed overnight. Contracts were cancelled. Staff were left stranded. But I innovated and restrategized. Like a cat with nine lives, I live to continue the struggle to bring the powers to justice.
They didn't just want to kill my businesses. They tried to silence my cause. But I will not be silent.
I now tell my story—not for pity, but for justice. What happened to me is not just about one entrepreneur or one government. It is about how African governments, under pressure from former colonial masters or domestic insecurity, are weaponizing immigration law and economic policy to suppress dissent and bury truth.
If this could happen to me, it could happen to any of us.
But I'm still standing.
Still building.
Still fighting.
For freedom.
For justice.
For truth—over empire.
Why Support Matters
We do not take Western aid, stipends or Grants. We are people-funded, people-powered, and fiercely independent. Each donation, subscription, and share supports real action—not bureaucracy.
As a paid subscriber, you will:
- Access monthly legal and strategy calls.
- Receive exclusive reports before public release.
- Help fund historical researches.and legal research.
- Be credited (if you choose) as a core supporter of the movement.
Join the Movement
This is not just about the past. It's about the present and the future. About restoring the dignity of Umu Igbo and Alaigbo, ending imperial silence, and igniting a global push for truth and reparations.
Subscribe to the Newsletter
Join Our Member-Only Strategy Meetings
Read & Share Legal Briefs [Coming Soon]
Browse the Testimony Archive [In Development]
Submit Your Story [Form Available Soon]
Let the empires tremble—the truth is rising.