In March of 1997 violence broke out in the Warri area centered on the creation, by the then military regime, of a new local government area, Warri South-West, and the location of its headquarters. An Ijaw expectation based on official statements that the local government headquarters would be in Ogbe-Ijoh, an Ijaw town, was disappointed when the location published in the federal government gazette turned out to be Ogidigben, an Itsekiri area. From March to May, widespread clashes continued, in which hundreds of people from each ethnic group died. BONFIRES OF THE GODS tells the heartrending fictitious accounts of the real life experiences of people who suffered great losses during the violent outrage and one of the most unexpected and irrelevant wars the world had ever seen, throwing a once peaceful and lovable city into a massive chaos. The novel is set in the backdrop of the Ijaw-Itsekiri ethnic clash of 1997 in the city of Warri, Delta State of Nigeria. BONFIRES OF THE GODS is a story of love and hate, life and death, and a quest for survival in one’s own homeland.
