Olikeze Maria Egbunike

Biafran Survivor


Olikeze Maria Egbunike, 65

The Runner who gave birth during the war.

War Biography
Name: Maria Gold Egbunike, Odu Title: Amalunweze, Ndichie Title: Olikeze
Occupation before the war: Teacher / Present: Teacher
Age when war started: 31 / Present: 65
Marital Status: Single, married during the war / Present: (still married)
Number of Children: Delivered her first child in 1969 / Present: 3
Place of Residence: Enugu / Present: Onitsha
Reason of Relocation: War

War Movements:
She was in Enugu in when it fell in October of 1967. From Enugu, she went to Onitsha in 1967. In March of 1968, Onitsha fell. Meanwhile she was engaged in Onitsha to Alexander Egbunike, of Ogbendida Village, Onitsha. In late March to early April of 1968, she stayed in Port Harcourt after Onitsha fell. She went to Port Harcourt two weeks before she married in April 17, 1968. From Port Harcourt, she went to Mbaise for three days, a town in Owerri province. Two weeks after marriage, she left Port Harcourt and went to Aba and stayed for three months (July 1968) to figure out what to do. In Aba she stayed with Adazia's brother in August of 1968. Aba fell late August to early September and then she went to Umuahia in Abia state and stayed with Adazia's brother Nwabu Egbunike, a captain in the Biafran army. He was a DMI officer (Director of Military Intelligence). At that time, she was pregnant with her first child, Chineze. In March 1969 she left Umuahia and started farming with her husband to provide a livelihood. In March 1969, she ran to Mbauwku in Awka to visit Adazia's mother but was told by the Biafran army to head back because the road was dangerous. She spent a night on a mattress under a tree and in the morning went to another village Eziama in Imo state for two weeks to visit with Adazia's friend, Patrick Odiari, who worked at ACB bank (African Continental Bank). Eziama fell in April 1969 and from there, she went to Urualla, also in Imo State until the war ended in January 10, 1970.

Presently, Olikeze is a retired Headmistress of schools. She is sixty-five years old and still married to her husband with whom she had three children for. She lives in Onitsha.

Her Story:
Many women traded during the war. Women would go to the relief and get stock fish, salt and other goods, and sometimes they will trade it with other people or sell it. These trade is what sustained the Biafran economy. Olikeze traded goods like salt during the war. They even had a farm where their produce was sold in the market.

The first thing a child learns during the war is iti aku (learns to break palm kernels as a source of food). This means that a child must learn how to provide for him/herself when the parents are not around.

Olikeze Egbunike was a school teacher in Enugu when the war began in 1967. Below, she recounts the panic that was created when the first bomb was dropped in Enugu. On that day, she escorted her friend to town.

When the war started (Excerpt from our conversation)
"I was in Enugu when the shelling started. I told my friend to come to town with me….and on the road, we heard loud sounds: boom, boom, and people were running. We ran too. We couldn't run back to our home. That was in 1967. I knew war had begun. From that fateful day in Enugu, nothing remained the same."

Audio Files

Egbunike's Story 1 | Egbunike's Story 2 | Egbunike's Story 3 | Egbunike's Story 4

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