biafran army officers

Njoku, a lawyer is a connoisseur of Biafran War Literature. "When the war started, there was not a single weapon either in a store or anywhere throughout Biafra. [19]In January1966, the situation reached a breaking point. We can get glimpses of Ezes activities shortly before the war and then in Biafra from the book, The Nigerian Revolution And The Biafran War, written by Madiebo (one of the 3 persons Eze had referred to earlier) in 1980 and published by Fourth Dimension Publishing Co. Ltd. Other ethnic groups included theEfik,Ibibio,Annang,Ejagham,Eket,Ibeno,Yako,Bahumonoand theIjaw. The southern population is predominantlyChristian, being primarily made up of territory of the indigenousYorubaand Biafra kingdoms in the West and East respectively. A military administration was set up under Maj. Gen. Johnson Aguiyi-Ironsi, but his plan to abolish the regions and impose a unitary government met with anti-Igbo riots in the north. Some Europeans served the Biafran cause: German born Rolf Steiner was a lieutenant colonel assigned to the 4th Commando Brigade, and Welshman Taffy Williams served as a Major throughout the conflict. "Somewhere in the middle of the war," he said, "the Biafrans made some dramatic successes that gave us hope that we might hold the Nigerians until at least some help from outside came.". The Biafran Navy was made up of captured craft, converted tugs, and armored civilian vessels armed with machine guns, or captured 6-pounder guns. He attended Government College Umuahia from 1949 to 1955 and was in Nile and Simpson houses respectively. Its territory consisted of theEastern RegionofNigeria. He promised to consider the matter, and the Italians were subsequently released. The apparent domination of the political system by the North, and the chaos breaking out across the country, motivated elements within the military to consider decisive action. [32] The new currency went public on 28 January 1968, and the Nigerian pound was not accepted as an exchange unit. In 1974 Gowon postponed until 1976 the target date for a return to civilian rule, but he was overthrown in July 1975 and fled to Great Britain. The two coups deepened Nigerias ethnic tensions. 19-06-2014 Interview. Some of the positions he held in the Biafran Army include administrative officer, Biafran Army Headquarters and Commander, 11th and 13th Divisions of the Biafran Army, as well as the guerrilla commando unit. Read about our approach to external linking. Commander for GOC. Two Fouga Magister and several Gloster Meteor were bought but never arrived to Biafra, being abandoned on foreign African airbases. Gen. Olusegun Obasanjo, became head of the government. After the war, bank accounts owned by Biafrans were seized and a Nigerian panel resolved to give every Igbo person with an account only 20 pounds. [73][74][75], The Incorporated Trustees of Bilie Human Rights Initiative, representing the Indigenous People of Biafra, have filed a lawsuit against the Federal Government of Nigeria and Attorney General of the Federation, seeking the actualization of the sovereign state of Biafra by legal means. Early inventory included fourWorld War IIAmerican bombers: twoB-25 Mitchells, twoB-26 Invaders(Douglas A-26) (one piloted by Zumbach),[37]a converted DouglasDC-3[38]and one Britishde Havilland Dove. VideoThe secret mine that hid the Nazis' stolen treasure, LGBT troops take love for Eurovision to front line, Why an Indian comedian is challenging fake news rules. In conclusion, it is people like Eze that provided the sterling leadership for Biafran troops to perform extra-ordinary human feats that made the French Deputy, Ambassador Raymond Offroy to declare on a visit to Biafra, Before I came to Biafra, I was told that Biafrans fought like heroes. This number grew as the war progressed, ultimately reaching 30,000. Initially, Eze was Commander of 52 Brigade of Biafran Army with its headquarters in Calabar and responsible for the defence of the 75 miles of coastline between Ikang on the Cameroun boarder. Gowon was able, through his own personal magnetism, to reconcile the two sides so that the former Biafran states were integrated into Nigeria once again and were not blamed for the Nigerian Civil War. Mrs Nwanunobi met Ojukwu for the last time on 23 December 1969, when she lined up outside his office with her colleagues, to receive a Christmas gift and a handshake from him. In the west the government had fallen apart in 1962, and a boycott of the federal election of December 1964 brought Nigeria to the brink of breakdown. January 1966 - Nigerian government overthrown in what was seen as an "Igbo coup" led by junior army officers, January 1966 - Lt Col Odumegwu-Ojukwu appointed military governor of Eastern Region, July 1966 - Second coup masterminded by Murtala Muhammed, Lt Col Yakubu Gowon becomes head of state, June to October 1966 - Riots in northern Nigeria targeted at Igbos, killing many and forcing up to a million to return to south-eastern Nigeria, May 1967 - Ojukwu declares independence of the Republic of Biafra, October 1967 - Biafran capital Enugu falls, May 1968 - Nigeria captures oil-rich Port Harcourt, April 1969 - Umuahia, new Biafran capital falls to Nigerian forces. The surrender was facilitated by the Biafran Vice President and Chief of General Staff, Major General Philip Effiong, who assumed leadership of the Republic of Biafra after the original President, Colonel Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu, fled to Ivory Coast. Dr. Toyin Falola is an African historian and the Jacob and Frances Sanger Mossiker Chair Professor in the Humanities and a Distinguished Teaching Professor at the University of Texas at Austin. The Biafran Armed Forces (BAF) were the military of the Nigerian secessionist state of Biafra, which existed from 1967 until 1970. By way of background information, let me add that Government College, Umuahia by 1966 had produced thirteen mid-level and Senior Officers in the Nigerian Armed Forces. Recently, Anthony Okoro Eze who retired from the Nigerian Army as a Colonel passed on at the age of 80 years. [28], The FMG attacked Biafra on 6July 1967. Colonel Odumegwu Ojukwu Inspecting Newly Recruited Officers Into The Biafran Army The Nigerian civil war otherwise known as the Biafra war in 1967, broke out as a result of the decision of the Igbos to break out of Nigeria. Gen. Yakubu Gowon, right, welcomes UN Secretary-General U Thant, left, as he arrives in Lagos to hold talks about the refugee crisis in the aftermath of the Biafran conflict on January 19, 1970. Okororie said she sold food and other household items during the war in exchange for Nigerian pounds, which she then used to buy cigarettes, potash, salt, and marijuana since Biafran currency was not recognized beyond its borders. [32] Biafra attempted to finance the war through foreign exchange. From 1960 to 1961 he was at the Royal Signals Training School Catterick Camp, Yorkshire, United Kingdom. The coup eventually took place in July, 1966. "Plus the fact that we were hungry. A Nigerian artillery unit in Port Harcourt on May 19, 1968. He was assassinated in February 1976 during an unsuccessful coup attempt, and his top aide, Lieut. In 1945 an ethnic riot[17]flared up inJosin which Hausa-Fulani people targeted Igbo people and left many dead and wounded. Biafran armed forces | Military Wiki | Fandom Info: Defence Headquarters, Commander-in-Chief. Professor Okere is a member of the . [48]MASSOB says it is a peaceful group and advertises a 25stage plan to achieve its goal peacefully. Its inhabitants were mostlyIgbo, who led the independence movement due to economic, ethnic, cultural and religious tensions among the various peoples of Nigeria. Your effort and contribution in providing this feedback is much May Ezes soul rest in peace. [8] Federal projects in Biafra were also greatly reduced compared to other parts of Nigeria. Military Wiki is a FANDOM Lifestyle Community. Those killed included Ahmadu Bello, a revered leader in the north. Causes included battlefield deaths, ethnic cleansing, and starvation. Chief Anthony Enahoro, right, head of the Nigerian delegation, at the opening session of the Nigerian-Biafra peace talks in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, on August 6, 1968. Westerners especially resented the political domination of the Northern Peoples Congress, many of whose candidates ran unopposed in the election. This became law in the Abandoned Properties Act (28 September 1979). Our editors will review what youve submitted and determine whether to revise the article. 3 of 1967. [43], In their studySmallpox and its Eradication, Fenner and colleagues describe how vaccine supply shortages during the Biafrasmallpoxcampaign led to the development of the focal vaccination technique, later adopted worldwide by theWorld Health Organizationof theUnited Nations, which led to the early and cost-effective interruption of smallpox transmission inWest Africaand elsewhere. People were running. Ojukwu died after a brief illness at age 78 in November, 2011. They were coloured green, were able to carry six 68mm anti-armour rockets under each wing using simple sights. I told them I wont work in Lagos, so they posted me to Oji River [in Enugu].. The territory of the Republic of Biafra is covered nowadays by the reorganizedNigerian statesofCross River,Ebonyi,Enugu,Anambra,Imo,Bayelsa,Rivers,Abia, andAkwa Ibom. Not everything captured could be brought across the river but that which was brought back included 100,000 rounds of ammunition, 50 bicycles, 3 battery charging machines, 4 wireless sets, 2 typewriters, 300 rounds of 105mm shells, 2 anti-aircraft guns and ammunition, a few weapons and fairly large quantities of food and clothing. He spiked everybody up and we formed songs and were singing and enjoying ourselves.". The year was 1969, and it was two months before the end of the brutal two-year Nigeria-Biafra war, which killed an estimated one to three million people, mostly from the Igbo tribe in the eastern part of the country. Though peaceful, the protesters have been routinely attacked by the Nigerian police and army, with large numbers of people reportedly killed. I was bringing salt to Oguta, she recalled, and selling weed.. Nigeria's main reason for going to war was to counter the secession of the Eastern Region (Biafra) from the Republic of Nigeria. [53], In July 2006 theCenter for World Indigenous Studiesreported that government-sanctioned killings were taking place in the southeastern city ofOnitsha, because of a shoot-to-kill policy directed toward Biafrans, particularly members of the MASSOB. It was Eze that received Madiebo from Kaduna at the Ikeja Airport, Lagos at 1500 hours on the 19th of June, 1966 and drove him in his private car to see the Head of State, Major General J.T.U. The oil boom that followed the war allowed the federal government to finance development programs and consolidate its power. He was born on December 23, 1935. [39]In 1968 theSwedishpilotCarl Gustaf von Rosensuggested the MiniCOIN project to General Ojukwu. He did not run for the presidency in 1979, and Nigeria shifted to civilian rule, thus closing the era of military control during and around the Nigerian Civil War. 4 of 1967, modified the Banking Act of the Federal Republic of Nigeria for the Republic of Biafra. Mission | Biafran.org This led to a divisive and bitter war from 1967 to 1970. 2. In Nigeria and its surrounding region, long-standing regional stressesethnic competitiveness, educational inequality, and economic imbalance being the most prominentagain came to the fore in a controversial census during 196263. The leaders of Biafran National Guard, (BNG), invites any and all Biafran Veteran United States Military officers and members who had served in any capacity within the United States Military, professional retired law enforcement officers; as well as retired seasoned armed security service officers; who are from Biafran Origin (South Eastern . Jubilant Biafran soldiers celebrate on top of a destroyed Nigerian army armored personnel carrier. "He had this incredible sense of humour. This he did from January 1957 to December 1958 when he was commissioned a Second Lieutenant in the Nigerian Army. In August 1967 Biafran troops crossed the Niger, seized Benin City, and were well on their way to Lagos before they were checked at Ore, a small town in Western state (now Ondo state). Like her, Eyiche Adizua, a former technician, fled to Oguta during the civil war. Language links are at the top of the page across from the title. For the next 30 months, he headed the Research and Production (RAP) group comprising Igbo scientists from various fields. Because of this, the Biafrans manufactured many of their weapons locally. We intend to stay on and make the supreme sacrifice. Almost from all angles, the enemy was on the run after a short-lived resistance. This coup resulted in General Johnson Aguiyi-Ironsi, an Igbo and head of the Nigerian Army, taking power as President, becoming the first military head of state in Nigeria. Prince Obuka) and Ebuta Ogar Takon respectively, the Organisation also have a Chief of Staff who is a native of the Bakassi Peninsula, BNYL have also recorded a security clamp down in Bakassi Peninsula when soldiers of Operations Delta Safe apprehended Princewill in Ikang-Cameroon border area on 9November 2016 during an attempt to mobilise a protest in support of Kanus release, he was again rearrested by Nigeria Police Force in the same area on 16January 2018 along with 20 of their supporters. In the first year of the war, the Nigerian government captured the coastal city of Port Harcourt and imposed a blockade, which cut food supplies to Biafra. NEPA gave me back my job, said Adizua, adding that the national electricity company also paid his full salary for the years he was away. He attempts to explain dispassionately why army officers toppled the civil government in the cause of stability, and the considerable civilian support they received; and the ensuing riots and counter-coup, in the name of reunification, which led to a civil war claiming some .

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