He, however, appointed Colonel Hassan Katsina, son of Katsina emir Usman Nagogo, to govern the Northern Region, indicating some willingness to maintain cooperation with this bloc. A view shows an empty classroom at the school in Dapchi, where dozens of school girls went missing after an attack on the village by Boko Haram, in the northeastern state of Yobe, Nigeria on February 23, 2018. September 25, 2018, John Campbell and Asch Harwood [92], In the face of provocation from the Eastern media which repeatedly showed humiliating posters and cartoons of the slain northern politicians, on the night of 29 July 1966, northern soldiers at Abeokuta barracks mutinied, thus precipitating a counter-coup, which had already been in the planning stages. Before the start of the Civil War, France had strengthened her economic ties with Biafra. "The most important dimension of French military assistance was the shipment of weapons to Biafra, which had severe shortages of not only heavy weapons, but also small arms and ammunition. The final Nigerian offensive, named "Operation Tail-Wind", was launched on 7 January 1970 with the 3rd Marine Commando Division attacking, and supported by the 1st Infantry division to the north and the 2nd Infantry division to the south. The Return of al-Qaeda’s Faction in Nigeria: What’s Going on in Zamfara? July 17, 2019, Lauren Ploch Blanchard and Tomas F. Husted [121] The habit of the Egyptians to bomb Red Cross hospitals together with schools, hospitals, and marketplaces did much to earn Biafra international sympathy. May 4, 2018, Preventing Boko Haram Abductions of Schoolchildren in Nigeria, International Crisis Group [175], President Gamal Abdel Nasser dispatched pilots of the Egyptian Air Force to fight for Nigeria in August 1967, flying the recently arrived MIG-17s. Thousands from all over the Region turned up daily for recruitment. [151], Economically, France gained incentives through oil drilling contracts for the Société Anonyme Française de Recherches et d'Exploitation de Pétrolières (SAFRAP), apparently arranged with Eastern Nigeria in advance of its secession from the Nigerian Federation. [38], It seems that Gowon immediately faced not only a potential standoff with the East, but secession threats from the Northern and even the Western region. Master of Laws thesis accepted at York University (Toronto, Ontario), October 1971. July 9, 2019, Returning From the Land of Jihad: The Fate of Women Who Lived with Boko Haram, Azadeh Moaveni [...] Katanga gave France experience in using mercenaries to fight a war in which the consequences of failure were minimal. The Northern bloc found this decree intolerable. The other two pilots were Biafrans: Willy Murray-Bruce and Augustus Opke. August 6, 2019, A Shia “Boko Haram” Insurgency or Iranian Proxy in Nigeria? "The Nigerian government subsequently made it explicit to Shell-BP that it expected the company to pay the outstanding oil royalty immediately. [198], Media campaigns focused on the plight of the Biafrans intensified internationally in the summer of 1968. September 4, 2016, Everything We Know About Boko Haram’s Abubakar Shekau, Kate Samuelson CFR Blog, "Africa in Transition" [108] Fighting ended a few days later, with the Nigerian forces advancing into the remaining Biafran-held territories, which was met with little resistance. [...] The Katangan secession was ultimately unsuccessful, and thus it is a surprise that de Gaulle's government would support another secession in Biafra four years later. Africa. Firstly, the AG favored a loose confederacy of regions in the emergent Nigerian nation whereby each region would be in total control of its own distinct territory. "The French policy may be described as anti-British, anti-Nigerian and pr-Biafra. He formed an alliance with the National Council of Nigeria and the Cameroons party, and its popular nationalist leader Nnamdi "Zik" Azikiwe, who became Governor General and then President. On 4 June 1969, after receiving a personal direct mail from the Pope, Ojukwu pardoned the foreigners. "In Britain humanitarianism became a vessel through which society could construct a new sense of national purpose; it amounted, in essence, to a benign re-imagining of imperial compassion for a postcolonial world. The conflict started when a Nigerian military … Soon after, Israel arranged to make clandestine weapons shipments to Biafra using Côte d'Ivoire transport planes. ", Uche, "Oil, British Interests and the Nigerian Civil War" (2008), p. 123. After diplomatic efforts by Nigeria failed to reunite the country, war between Nigeria and Biafra broke out in July 1967. The 'Jews of Africa' envisioned their state like an 'African Israel', a new nation born of genocidal violence. November – First International Committee of the Red Cross relief supplies appear in Biafra. Israel also developed a cultural relation with the Igbos based on possible shared traditions. People from other regions were quick to take over any house owned by an Igbo, especially in the Port Harcourt area. April 12, 2018, Four Years After the Chibok Kidnapping Boko Haram Still a Threat, Stephanie Findlay [111] Formally, the United States was neutral in the civil war. [99][101] Biafra quickly moved to collect oil royalties from oil companies doing business within its borders. Nobel laureate, Prof Wole Soyinka, has said Nigeria is now a war zone. He cautioned that Nigerian leaders must allow decentralization of […] [73] Westerners especially resented the political domination of the Northern People's Congress, many of whose candidates ran unopposed in the election. No one was ever held responsible for these killings. New York Times ", Griffin, "French military policy in the Nigerian Civil War" (2015), p. 119. Former Peace Corps volunteers who had recently returned from Nigeria and college students founded the American Committee in July 1968. All that was left for him then was to seek expression in nationalistic organisations.". Interim president Alain Poher fired General Jacques Foccart, the lead coordinator of France's Africa policy. [170], The Eastern Region began seeking assistance from Israel in September 1966. [144][158] By the Biafran leadership and then around the world, the pogroms and famine were classified as genocide and compared to the Holocaust; hypothetical Judaic origins of the Igbos were used to bolster comparisons with Jews in Germany. Heerten & Moses, "The Nigeria–Biafra War" (2014), p. 177. CFR [212] On 25 November 1969, John Lennon returned the MBE he had awarded by Queen Elizabeth II in 1964 in protest against British support for Nigeria. October 11, 2019, Nigeria's Political and Security Crises Boiling Over Across the Country, John Campbell Despite this, he continued to personally support Biafra. This effectively excised the main oil-producing areas from the core Ibo state (East Central State). The Biafrans came under immediate fire from the water and the air. Levey, "Israel, Nigeria and the Biafra Civil War" (2014), pp. War on the Rocks [71] Retired Brigadier General H. M. Njoku later wrote that the general strike heavily exacerbated tensions between the Army and ordinary civilians, and put pressure on the Army to take action against a government which was widely perceived as corrupt. [112] The same problems that afflicted the Federal Army also affected the Biafran Army even more whose officer corps were based around former Federal Igbo officers. Such as the "war on terror", the "war on drugs" and the "war on cancer". Most notable of the mercenaries was Swedish Count Carl Gustav von Rosen who led air attacks with five Malmö MFI-9 MiniCOIN small piston-engined aircraft, armed with rocket pods and machine guns. Nigeria News NewsNow brings you the latest news from the world's most trusted sources on Nigeria, as well as from top Nigerian publishers. The Struggle for Secession, 1966–1970: A Personal Account of the Nigerian Civil War. O'Sullivan, "Humanitarian Encounters" (2014), pp. [112] Social status in the Army was extremely important and officers devoted an excessive amount of time to ensure their uniforms were always immaculate while there was a competition to own the most expensive automobiles and homes. The federal government had started the war, and the East was defending itself. The Fight Against Nigeria's Northeast Terrorism is Also a Battle Against Climate Change, Alicia Prager and Simpa Samson Right-wing and left-wing political groups, and student activists, spoke for Biafra. [108] Nigerian soldiers under Murtala Mohammed carried out a mass killing of 700 civilians when they captured Asaba on the River Niger. p.152, Akpan, Ntieyong U. Biafra also used push polling to insinuate messages about Nigeria's inherent bloodthirstiness. The Biafran air attacks did disrupt the combat operations of the Nigerian Air Force, but only for a few months. [138] As the British High Commissioner in Lagos wrote to the Secretary of State for Commonwealth Affairs on 27 July 1967: Ojukwu, even victorious, will not be in a strong position. Once the oil flow stopped, sitting on a fence ceased to be an option for the British government. Olawoyin, "Historical Analysis of Nigeria–Biafra Conflict" (1971), pp. [171] In 1968, Israel began supplying the Federal Military Government with arms—about $500,000 worth, according to the US State Department. May 4, 2016, Andrew Walker 266. [113] Throughout the war, Biafran officers were far more likely to be executed by their own side than by the Federal Army as Ojukwu conducted purges and had officers who were merely accused of being "saboteurs" taken out and shot. The coup, also referred to as "The Coup of the Five Majors", has been described in some quarters as Nigeria's only revolutionary coup. 12 June – Save Biafra media campaign begins in Britain with documentary on. CFR Blog, "Africa in Transition" [127] Oil production and export continued, but at a lower level. [145], When Nixon became President in 1969, he found there was little he could do to change the established stance aside from calling for another round of peace talks. Fairly widespread student-worker unrest diverted the government's attention only temporarily. Further feelings of injustice were caused by Nigeria changing its currency, so that Biafran supplies of pre-war Nigerian currency were no longer honoured. January 17, 2017, Hilary Matfess May 8, 2017, Improving U.S. Anticorruption Policy in Nigeria, Matthew T. Page Eniola Akinkuotu, Abuja Afenifere Chairman, Reuben Fasoranti, has lamented the high level of insecurity in the country, adding that Nigeria is now at war. [140] After the Federal victory at Bonny, Wilson summoned David Hunt, the British high commissioner to Nigeria, for a meeting at 10 Downing Street in early August 1967 for his assessment of the situation. 305. [128], Minorities in Biafra suffered atrocities at the hands of those fighting for both sides of the conflict. Nigeria’s citizens in the north east must be informed to evacuate. [213] In his letter to the Queen returning the MBE, Lennon wrote: "Your Majesty, I am returning this in protest against Britain's involvement in the Nigeria-Biafra thing, against our support of America in Vietnam, and against Cold Turkey slipping down the charts. This was due to the pre-secession arrangement that all soldiers should return to their regions to stop the spate of killings, in which Igbo soldiers had been major victims. Phillips, Charles, & Alan Axelrod (2005). Pierri, "A New Entry into the World Oil Market" (2013), pp. This analogy, combined with the genocide charge, was used by the leadership to secure the support of the population, and to build loyalty to Biafra by emphasising the threat from a common enemy. "Malnutrition affects adults less than children, half of whom have now died, reports Debrel, who also describes the reorganisation of the Biafran army after the 1968 defeats, making it a "political" army of 110,000 men; its automatic weapons, (...)". CFR Blog, "Africa in Transition" ", Griffin, "French military policy in the Nigerian Civil War" (2015), p. 122. These moves represented a significant diplomatic success given the Muslim orientation of the northern-dominated government. [209] Mayrock's rabbi described him as a sensitive and idealistic young man who was deeply troubled by the allegation of genocide against the Igbos and who after writing to President Nixon and getting no response, decided to take his own life to spur the conscience of the world. 34, through which the federation was abolished and replaced with a unitary system. [citation needed]. A Nigerian army convoy vehicle drives ahead with an anti-aircraft gun on its way to Bama, Borno, Nigeria on August 31, 2016. Although France has leaned toward Biafra, SAFRAP has vast exploration rights in the Northern Region; this might have prevented France giving Biafra political recognition. In a national broadcast, he said that the decision was based on the principle that "justice must at all times be tempered with mercy. CFR Blog, "Africa in Transition" For the next two days Biafran stations and military supplies were bombarded by the Nigerian air force. In mid-1968, images of malnourished and starving Biafran children saturated the mass media of Western countries. Radio Biafra is a daily reminder of the bloody civil war that ravaged Nigeria between 1967 and 1970. This was seen as a deliberate policy to hold back the Igbo middle class, leaving them with little wealth to expand their business interests. 1565. The Forgotten Victims: Ethnic Minorities in the Nigeria-Biafra War, 1967-1970, Heerten & Moses, "The Nigeria–Biafra War" (2014), p. 187. [158] Maurice Robert, head of Service de Documentation Extérieure et de Contre-Espionnage (SDECE, the French foreign intelligence service) African operations, wrote in 2004 that his agency supplied the press with details about the war and told them to use the word "genocide" in their reporting. ", Levey, "Israel, Nigeria and the Biafra civil war" (2014), p. 270. BBC News August 6, 2019, Beneath the Tamarind Tree: Nigeria and the Resilience of the Chibok Girls, Christina Golubski The Knesset publicly debated this issue on 17 and 22 July 1968, winning applause from the press for its sensitivity. ", O'Sullivan, "Humanitarian Encounters" (2014), pp. [182] Only German born Rolf Steiner a Lt. Col. with the 4th Commandos, and Major Taffy Williams, a Welshman, would remain for the duration. In the end though, the majors were not in the position to embark on this political goal. In February 2018, more than one hundred students were kidnapped by a faction of Boko Haram known as Islamic State West Africa. "Nigerian-Biafran War". [177], At the request of the Nigerian government, Canada sent three observers to investigate allegations of genocide and war crimes against the Nigerian military. [113] The shortage of experienced officers was a major problem for the Biafran Army, made worse by a climate of paranoia and suspicion within Biafra as Ojukwu believed that other former Federal officers were plotting against him. With special reference to the Asaba Massacre, Emma Okocha described the killings as "the first black-on-black genocide". Levey, "Israel, Nigeria and the Biafra civil war" (2014), p. 280. "[187], Many volunteer bodies organised the Biafran airlift which provided blockade-breaking relief flights into Biafra, carrying food, medicines, and sometimes (according to some claims) weapons. 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