A Nigerian civil war veteran, Colonel Joseph Achuzia (rtd), has died.
He died on Monday at the Federal Medical Centre, Asaba, Delta State, as result of brief illness. He was aged 90 years.
Achuzia fought on the side of the Biafran Army after abandoning the Nigerian Army.
He was a Colonel in the Biafran Army during the Nigerian Civil War of 1967 to 1970.
One of his sons, Mr. Benedict Onyeka Achuzia, reportedly confirmed the demise of the older Achuzia to journalists in Asaba.
According to him, his father passed on at 8:00am at the Federal Medical Centre, Asaba.
“My father was the best dad ever. I was so sad when he gave up. Even when his body was being taken to the mortuary, I couldn’t believe that he was dead.
“Shortly before his death, he was smiling, but we never knew he was going. May his soul rest in perfect peace,” he reportedly told journalists.
Achuzia, who’s the Ikemba of Asaba Kingdom, left the Nigerian Army to the South-East, afraid of anti-Igbo sentiment.
He later joined forces with the late Biafra leader, Chukwuemeka Odimegwu Ojukwu after enlisting in the Biafran Army in May 1967.
Col. Achuzia was born in 1929.