Between 5th and 7th October 1967, in the first year of the Nigeria-Biafra War, Nigerian soldiers reportedly killed several hundred people (one estimate puts the number at 2,000) in Asaba. Asaba is a town close to the Niger River, a gateway to parts of Igboland. Murtala Mohammed, who later became the Head of State, led the soldiers. Fifty years later, photographer Obuh Christopher Nelson returned to the town in commemoration of what is now known as the Asaba Massacre.