Decades after the Nigeria-Biafra conflict ended, residents of Foriku-Boridele in Ondo State continue to live with the effects of a war that transformed their land and lives.

The community, located near Ore, was one of the battlegrounds during the civil war between Nigerian federal forces and secessionist Biafra. The Biafran War came to an end 54 years ago, on January 15, 1970. The conflict spanned two and a half years, beginning on July 6, 1967, and concluding on that same January day in 1970.

According to a report by BBC Pidgin, remnants of military activity are still visible in the area, with abandoned equipment scattered across farmland that locals say remains unfit for cultivation. Community members describe continued trauma and physical danger, with unexploded remnants and chemicals occasionally surfacing during farming activities.

Odukoya Akinmeje, who now leads the Foriku community, was a young boy when the war reached his village. He told BBC Pidgin that he remembers fleeing after news arrived that fighting had spread to Ore. “They said it was over, so we came back, but within a week, the soldiers had returned,” he recalled. The fighting resumed overnight, with troops marching along nearby roads before violence broke out again.

BBC Pidgin found that several residents live close to abandoned military vehicles. Foriku resident Johnson Danjuma, whose family had settled there before the war, said that despite hopes of fertile farmland, the terrain has remained difficult and unsafe. He recalled families taking refuge in the bush, where even pregnant women were forced to deliver without shelter.

Youth leader Gbenga Adeyemi told BBC Pidgin that after the war ended, some young people died after drinking water contaminated by wartime chemicals. He expressed frustration that the land remains damaged and that authorities have provided little support.

Basic infrastructure is nearly absent. BBC Pidgin further reported that Foriku lacks clean water, schools, and medical facilities. Elizabeth Iwam, who grew up in the area, described walking long distances to attend school, only to stop her education in her teenage years. Children now face the same challenges she did, coupled with the fear that memories of war still instil.

Residents hope for meaningful intervention, with many telling BBC Pidgin they feel forgotten by the same country they remained loyal to during the conflict.

Though more than five decades have passed, Foriku remains defined by a war it has yet to fully recover from.