The Enugu State Government is set to reinstall and unveil a statue depicting the 21 coal miners massacred in Enugu in 1949.
This was disclosed to PACESETTER in a terse message by the Enugu State Commissioner for Tourism and Culture, Dame Ugochi Madueke.
Madueke’s message reads:
“The statue of the 21 coal miners massacred 75 years ago will be reinstalled on Monday. Work is ongoing day and night at the roundabout”.
She explained that the unveiling is significant because it will be done on a day that marks the 75th Anniversary of the Coal Miners Massacre.
Recall that during the Third Frontier Discourse Annual Public Lecture Series and Awards, Pacesetter Frontier Magazine had honoured the memory of the miners on the 74th anniversary of the incident.
In a statement which PACESETTER released then, the magazine noted:
“We will honour their memories by awarding and designating the incident with the ‘Most Significant Event of the Era’ award and a brief discourse on what actually transpired will be handled by renowned Historian and Scholar, Ozo Ferdinand Anikwe, Phd”.
On November 18, 1949, over 21 coal miners were brutally massacred and more than 50 others injured by the British colonialists for daring to protest their poor working and living conditions and racial discrimination.