Eze Eluchie, a child survivor of the 1967-1970 Nigerian Civil War and its genocide, is going in search of forgotten Biafran children who were airlifted for their safety and never returned to their families. Using word of mouth, social media, untapped archival records and media, and DNA (with the help of scientists at UC Berkeley’s Forensic Project), Eze is determined to reunite families that have been separated for more than 50 years and offer them closure.
The war was one of the most visible events in the late 1960s. As the world watched it drag on, global religious groups, international governments, and humanitarian organizations banded together to carry out what became the second largest airlift operation since the Berlin airlift of 1947. More than 5,000 malnourished children were whisked away to Gabon, Ivory Coast, and São Tomé for rehabilitation and safety. After the war, most children were repatriated to their families. But, according to Eze’s research, not all were returned. These “nameless” children eventually became uncertain numbers that the world (including Nigeria) eventually forgot. But not Eze.
In this feature-length documentary film, we will have exclusive access to journey alongside Eze as he embarks on a unique mission to identify those who were taken, those who were returned, and most importantly, those whose fates remain mysteries. Over the course of this film, he will attempt to reconnect a surviving left-behind child (now an adult) with their family in Nigeria.
“We cannot forget them,” Eze says. “Forgetting is like an act of murder.” To Eze, remembering is an act of healing.
