Seizure of Aro Leaders by Lt-Col. Montanaro During the Aro Field Force Operation

Lt-Col. A. F. Montanaro, Officer Commanding the Aro Field Force, ordered his officers to treat as 'hostile' any village in which leaders did not surrender as soon as the military patrol entered it, and to keep any leaders who surrendered as hostages until guns were handed in, food provided for the troops, and roads made. On taking Arochukwu, Montanaro personally seized Ezeala, Kamalu, Ugbaja, Ifunwueze, and Ijeomanta — heads of different sections of Arochukwu. Major Gallway later commented: 'The practice of calling chiefs to meetings and then seizing them and of calling in guns to mark and then destroying them has resulted in a general distrust of the government and its policy.'