Regina Ifeyinwa Madiebo

Commander's wife and nurse touched the lives of the refugees.

War Biography
Name: Regina Ifeyinwa Madiebo
Occupation before the war: Nurse (trained in England) / Present: Retired, used to manage a daycare center for 17 years
Age when war started: 37 / Present: 70
Marital Status: Married to Alexander Madiebo, 2nd in Command of the Biafran Republic / Present: (still married)
Number of Children: 3 before the war, and 1 during the war / Present: (same number of children)
Place of Residence: Enugu / Present: Lagos
Reason of Relocation: War

War Movements
Prior to war, she lived in Kaduna where she was born. Then she went to Lagos and from there went to Enugu. When the war started in Enugu she ran with her husband to Oka, to her husband's home, to Umuahia in Abia state and to Nkwere. From Nkwere, she went to Ivory Coast to flee the war.

Conversation Venue
Venue of Interview: I spoke to her in her home in Surulere, Lagos.

Her Story
Regina Madiebo was thirty-seven years old when the Nigerian Civil War started. At that time, she was a nurse and had been trained in England. She was married to Major General Alexander Madiebo, who was the General Officer Commanding (GOC) the Biafran Army. She was a mother with three children. Before the war, she resided in Enugu but moved when the war started.

Presently, Mrs. Madiebo is retired. She was seventy years old last year when I interviewed her. After the war, she managed a day care center for seventeen years, but had retired by the time I met her. She is still married to her husband, Alexander Madiebo who is now retired too. Mrs. Madiebo lives in Lagos with her children and husband.

Mrs. Madiebo is very reserved. Her story differs because it came from two different perspectives. First, it came as the wife of the Commander and second, as a nurse. These two angles gives us an in-depth look into her life. Mrs. Madiebo spoke about her encounters as a nurse. One story that stood out is about a woman who had to run with her child the day she delivered her baby because the hospital was bombed. This is not your ordinary story about a mother who had to do all she could for her child. This woman had barely given birth when the hospital was bombed. There was hardly any time for her to recuperate. She had to save her life and that of her new born bably. She survived but after sever hardships and suffering.

Another story Mrs. Madiebo recounted was about two young children, a boy of seven years old and his sister who was three years old. Their father had been killed and their mother had abandoned them. The little boy then took his mother's bicycles and gathered some unripe plantains, which he put on the bicycle with his sister. The ate the plantain until they found help. These are samples of the numerous stories she recounted. With each story, I wondered about the nameless children who didn't have access to their parent's bicycle, but who were lost in the crowds, or died, or missing.

Mrs. Madiebo's story ended differently from those who remained in Biafra after its collapse. When Ojukwu fled to Ivory Coast on exile, he took his top commanders including the Madiebo's.

In the beginning, (Excerpt from our conversation)

Well, the officers heard rumors that we were going to be attacked by Nigerians. They decided to take themselves out to the various borders between the east and the north. One day, somebody came and woke us up very early in the morning. I asked them what was happening and they said war had started in a place near [Ogoja]. In fact, my husband was visiting the troops so he decided to go to the place to see them. While he was there the enemy started attacking them and shelling the place. Meanwhile, I was quite worried about the fact that they were bringing his things in, not packed at all. I felt something had happened to him. The shoes, some of them were one leg. Anyway we decided to wait and see what would happen. Towards the night, he sent us a note that the enemy had attacked and that war had started. For a couple of days we didn't see him. He was at the war front and the fighting had actually started. After the shelling, they have started shooting. When he came, he decided to pay us a visit just to put my mind at rest and to explain to us what was happening. He said we shouldn't fear and that everything was under control that even though they were being attacked, it was not a surprise. They were trying to push the enemy back. So, this thing went on and on and on. The children were too young and did not know what was happening. I was the only person in the family who knew, because as I said, the third child was about one year old. They know we have left our normal home and that we were renting a place. Life was just to them normal. I was the only person who was anxious about what is going to happen next.

Then after some days, he came and explained things to us. We decided to carry on with our normal life as the war continued. The people were beginning to feel the effects of the war because they saw causalities being brought to the hospitals and the story was all over the place, people were dying and wounded. Biafran army, even though they were very few and didn't have much equipment, they were struggling and the war had not started affecting the ordinary man. People went about their business. As time went on. People were being pushed in because as the enemy advanced people had to leave their homes. After about a week or so, we started feeling the impact because people started coming into Enugu, refugees. We continued our life. There was this fear about what is going to happen and we saw a lot of people killed. You will be living under fear wondering when it is going to be your turn next. That was what happened as the war came very close to Enugu. In fact, they bombed Enugu a few times. We left Enugu and went to Awka.

Audio Files

Madiebo's Story 1 | Madiebo's Story 2 | Madiebo's Story 3

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