The igbo suicide was committed when 75 igbo people killed themselves in the waters of Dunbar Creek on St. Simons Island,Georgia (USA). In 1803, about 75 Igbo people were captured and sold into slavery from present day Southeastern Nigeria.
At the time when Africans were bought and brutally treated like animals to work day and night without or no food and rest in the Americas by whitemen. The Igbo captives were purchased in Georgia and while traveling through the waterways toward St. Simons Island, they broke free from their chains.
They attacked and killed the white crew members. The ship went out of control and crashed at the shore of Dunbar Creek. When they got to the land, they knew that they would be recaptured by the local plantation overseers.
So they made a collective choice. They chained themselves back together, marched directly into the deep, marshy waters drowning themselves inside the sea, singing in Igbo: "Mmụọ mmiri du anyị bịa, mmụọ mmiri ga-edu anyị laa." ("The water spirit brought us, the water spirit will take us home.")
.jpeg)
They chose to die rather than live as slaves. This act by the Igbos remain one of the most powerful symbols of resistance in African diaspora history.
Today, that particular place is known as The Igbo landing located at Dunbar Creek on St. Simons Island, Glynn County, Georgia, United States.
Credits:
MBET SAMUEL
Former Nigeria under17 Striker
B.A. History & International Studies