From Nigeria to Taiwan: caught between home and refuge

Detailed summary

Ceedon (a pseudonym), a Nigerian national who currently lives in Taiwan, knows what it means to face a violent crackdown when protesting against state power.

Ceedon (a pseudonym), a Nigerian national who currently lives in Taiwan, knows what it means to face a violent crackdown when protesting against state power.

"Imagine you and your friend go to a protest with only a cardboard sign stating your demand, your flag, your clothes, and you face open fire by the government," said Ceedon of protests he took part in as a member of a Biafran separatist group, the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB).

The movement for Biafran independence from Nigeria has persisted since the independent Republic of Biafra was defeated by Nigerian forces in 1970.

In the decades that followed, several separatist groups emerged, organizing protests that were met with deadly crackdowns by Nigerian security forces.

Members of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) have faced arrests, torture and extrajudicial killings, predominantly during demonstrations, according to a 2019 statement by Agnes Callamard, then the United Nations Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions.

On May 29 and 30, 2016, Nigerian troops opened fire on IPOB members and bystanders in Onitsha during a demonstration, killing at least 60 people and injuring more than 70, Callamard said.

Ceedon was one of those who faced the government's bullets while protesting between 2015 and 2017. He eventually left Nigeria in 2019 with only two sets of clothes, including the one he was wearing, and ended up in Taiwan, more than 12,000 kilometers away.

Several other Biafrans have also settled in Taiwan, which has maintained commercial ties with Nigeria for decades, particularly through the trade in used vehicles and auto parts.

CNA recently spoke with members of this community about the burdens of their past and the challenges they face in Taiwan today.

Opening of the article, excerpted from Focus Taiwan (CNA). To read the rest, open the article on the publisher's site.