smh, they've begin e-war

seunmsg:


Old man, purge yourself of this hatred. Ojukwu is the war criminal and not Murtala Muhammed. Ojukwu led your people blindly into a war without the required weapons. You should hold him responsible for your people's death.

If he led them into war with proper weapons would he have becone a hero like Murtala Muhammed? Cos Boko Haram & ISIS have sophisticated weapons too...so dat means they're not criminals ryt cos I don't get your logic.

Igbo

chukwudi44:
That is the corpse of a war criminal!! The blood of the women and children of Asaba were appeased by this act of heroism by the brave Col Dimka.I suggest Dimka should be considered for a national award.

Ojukwu led u guys to war with sugar cane stalks for guns

Spanner4:
Who is murtala Mohammed? I don't knw who he is

.

An hausa/fulani rapist.

y

K

Rip to a great man.

[quote author=bestman09 post=42896789]y for yam abi[?/quote]

ISpiksDaTroof:


Actually, thats false. For example, his Army annihilated the whole whole town of Abudu (in Present day Edo state) just because they were predominantly Muslim, dressed like the Northerners and spoke no Igbo. How would you describe Genocide if someone asked you to?

You shouldn't point fingers in a war, lest your opponent can't point his because it has been chopped off by your sword. At least you're all on here everyday, by the dozen, in droves, always crying, accusing everyone else of "killing you" in 1967-70. But take a wild guess why you don't hear anyone crying on behalf of the people of Abudu?

Thats right. Theres noone left.

The Biafran forces, who were relatively calm during the first one month of the occupationperiod, became progressively edgy, tightening the various governmental gadgets of societal control.

As the Biafran hostility developed to crisis proportions, the dusk to dawn curfew was further enforced, the Vigilance and Security Councils given additional powers, and the Biafran Army and Militia became more ruthless in their dealings with the civilians.

The civilian collaborators doubled their spying activities to callous dimensions. [45]

The situation drifted for the worse.

Taking the MidWestern refusal to support the secessionist movement as a demonstration of an anti-Ibo and pro-Hausa stance, the Biafrans intensified their search for suspected saboteurs as every set-back on the battle front was invariably blamed on sabotage.

Heavier reprisals followed.

At Abudu, over 300 bodies, including those of children, were found in the Ossiomo river as the Biafrans withdrew. [46]

Similarly, on 20 September 1967, 'there was a mass killing of non-Ibo MidWesterners at Boji-Boji Agbor', and on 23 September, 'non-Ibo speaking MidWesterners were apprehended by rebel soldiers at Asaba, Ibusa and Agbor and taken [in two lorries] to a rubber plantation along Uromi-Agbor road and massacred'.[47]

The more minor cases of rape, extortion, seizure of properties, and other punishments featured abundantly.

For instance, a Warri-based lawyer, E. K. Iseru, testified at the Tribunal that he was stripped naked and detained for three days without food for agitating for the Rivers State, and, when he complained of hunger, he was promptly told: 'there is no food for Hausa friends'. [48]

Ramat.... The man who had to deny his lineage to take his mother's maiden name so he could be recruited into the Nigeria army

In Falz voice.....Am just hearing valentine. What is Valentine. What is Valentine all about.

Hail one of the brave generals of our history

Same shiit that got Africans into slavery is what's playing out again! Makes me wonder when you blacks will get your shiiit together. This was how to white man was able to use you against each other, why can't you get over your myopic selves? Guess what? If you're not careful, the white man will be back to put your Butts to work under the scorching sun, since you can't live in peace and respect each other. I bet the white man is just waiting on the fence, waiting to equip you with weapons. Kill yourselves, and bundle the rest of you to his country and start another episode of centuries long slavery. You Africans just can't learn! Bad thing is, the rest of the world thinks we act alike by behaving stupidly . They won't know that it's just a large percentage of you thar are the main morons. Mehn! God Knows Why He Put Me In This Al Most bleeped Up race. All over the world, y'all act and think in the same shitty way. It's annoying! you make the color black ugly. Get over yourselves, nobody gives a fucck about your tribe, religion and shiit. The world is moving on. Africans, wake the Bleep up. I swore never to cuss anymore, but this is just annoying!

Wonder y Nigeria is in this sorry state?'They celebrate coupist criminals like Murtala, Buhari, IBB , Abacha that ruined this country! If the senate was hallowed and responsible enough, they would have stripped the head of state title from these coupist criminals especially Buhari that truncated a democratically elected government

Data fair

Spanner4:
Who is murtala Mohammed? I don't knw who he is

I am sure you don't know anything

chukwudi44:

it is ur time now pmb l

Eyepencil:
.
An hausa/fulani rapist.

And who is OJUKWU?

ValarDoharis:
Wonder y Nigeria is in this sorry state?'They celebrate coupist criminals like Murtala, Buhari, IBB , Abacha that ruined this country! If the senate was hallowed and responsible enough, they would have stripped the head of state title from these coupist criminals especially Buhari that truncated a democratically elected government

so

datigbogirl:


If he led them into war with proper weapons would he have becone a hero like Murtala Muhammed? Cos Boko Haram & ISIS have sophisticated weapons too...so dat means they're not criminals ryt cos I don't get your logic.

In war, anything goes. That's why it's better not to start a war you are not fully prepared for. It saves you stories like this. That is why I will blame Ojukwu for starting a war he knew he can't win. He's a war criminal for wasting the lives of 2million Igbos for no reason. Beside, both sides committed war crimes during the war.

Spanner4:
Who is murtala Mohammed? I don't knw who he is

Go back to your home and ask them who is Murtala Mohammed.
They will be able to lecture you very well.

There is my story, your story and the truth.

http://deltanewsroom.com/?p=5460


The Nigerian civil war from 6 July 1967 to 1 January 1970 was fought to counter the secession of Biafra from Nigeria. Biafra was a nationalistic aspiration of the Eastern Igbo people at that time and it was borne from the fact that they could no longer coexist with the Northern dominated federal government.
The Nigerian Civil war otherwise known as the Biafra war attracted international attention due to the brutal events of that period. How the conflict was interpreted by foreigners and Nigerians cannot be over emphasised.
The conflict took a toll of human lives. The Igbo tragedy was largely perpetrated in Northern Nigeria, however there was a forgotten tragedy that most international and national observers over looked. The forgotten Biafra ethnic minorities- Efik, Ogoja, Ibibio etc and the Mid West (Urhobo, Edo, Itsekiris, Isoko, Asaba) experience during the Biafra invasion and the Federal Government occupation.
Each time I get into debate with my Igbo brothers and the issue of marginalisation, distrust and ethnic cleansing is shown to my face in a one dimensional sense, I have often reacted with the question….Is warfare one-sided? And who is marginalising who in Nigeria?
The slaughter, rape and torture of the people of the mid west have not been fully blown out in the open until now. Many present day Mid Westerners of my generation have no clue on what actually transpired in a Biafra occupied Mid Western region and what transpired among the Biafra minorities in the East.
This write up is not to point a blaming finger at anyone but is meant to catalyse the objectivity of the individuals from the various regions of Nigeria to sense aright the issue of marginalisation and also to show the reader that the sins of warfare and conflicts is not onesided. This write up will have to kill the delusion and one sided bias of that question…..WHO IS MARGINALISING WHO and what really happened to the Southern minorities during the war.
In Omakas book titled The Forgotten Victims: Ethnic Minorities in Nigeria Biafra War, 1967-1970, he said: The gory experiences suffered by the Biafra minorities have largely been neglected in the historiography of the Biafra war.
This write up will also assert that the atrocities perpetuated by Biafra soldiers on Biafra minorites during those early and late months of the war has largely been hidden from the public debate hence they should be accorded due recognition of victimhood.
Following the massacre of the Igbo people living up North, the Federal Government responded to the Igbo secession with “police action” that was partially military. I will not go into the reason for these atrocities. That is not the purpose of this write up.
However it must be pointed out that blame for atrocities must not be one sided. The Igbo people had a right to defend themselves and the UN recognition against genocide gives a people the right to secede. This is not debateable.
Wikipedia states that the Geneva Conventions comprise four treaties, and three additional protocols, that establish the standards of international law for the humanitarian treatment of war. This convention is binding to all warring parties.
The dorminating argument of the Nigeria Biafra War is that the Igbo were targeted for extermination by the Muslim North. International media played a significant role in exposing humanitarian tragedies especially in Igbo speaking parts of Biafra. However not much was reported on the atrocities perpetuated against minorities in Biafra both by the Nigerian military forces and Biafra militias.
A Newsweek magazine once report that some of the worst massacres of the war occurred when the federal troops captured minority regions whereupon minority tribesmen turned on the Ibos in blood fury. The quote presents Igbo as victims in the hands of minorities without referencing the experience the minorities suffered in the Igbo dominated region before the arrival of the federal troops. There was another report stating that Ibos were killed by the local people in their thousands in the Mid West on arrival of federal troops. No one seems to ask the question…..why was this the case?
It is not denying the fact that Igbo were massacred during the civil war, however there is an error in the representation of the victims of the massacre.
The number one question is: Attributing the 1966 massacre in the North as only Igbos is an error of judgement. In the G C M Onyiuke led tribunal, it was clearly shown that ethnic minority groups in Eastern and Mid Western Nigeria were victims. It was easy to mistake an ethnic minority for Igbo apart from mere physical appearance there was no other distinct feature to differentiate Igbo from non Igbo. You cannot tell unlike the Yoruba or Hausa facial marks. Ethnic minorities were also killed.
While the Igbos retreated back to the East to form a defence line and secede, no one seems to ask the question if the Biafra ethnic minorities (present day Cross River, Akwa Ibom etc) were actually consulted on the need to secede and if they agreed.
The argument that the war was only Hausa Fulani and Igbo is purely too simplistic.
In the early days of Nigeria, the domination of the three major ethnic groups of Yoruba, Hausa Fulani and Igbo in the political atmosphere of Nigeria was obvious. The leaders of the ethnic minority ethnic groups had found themselves in a disadvantaged position in the entire federal political equation. As a result of this, minority leaders in different regions began to form movements that started the agitation for the creation of more states were their interest will be largely protected. Some of this movement included the Calaber Ogoja River (COR) state, Mid West State movement and Middle Belt State movement. This movement agitated for minority rights in the larger state.
The leaders of the state creation movement believed that the formation of their states will eliminate the domination of the major ethnic groups.
In Chinua Achebes book titled There was a Country, he had this to say on the Niger Delta Region page 47: …”The minorities of the Niger Delta, Mid West and the Middle Belt were always uncomfortable with the notion that they had to fit into the tripod of the largest ethnic groups that was Nigeria…….many of them Ijaw, Kanuri, Ibibio, Tiv, Itsekiri, Isang, Urhobo, Anang and Efik were from ancient nation states in their own right. Their leaders however, often had to subsume their own ethnic ambitions within alliances with one of the big three groups in order to attain greater political results.
And so during the civil war this minority groups were faced with a great dilemma.
[b]THE CONFLICT AND WAR CRIMES.
Revelations about the war atrocities on the minorities have emerged recently. New surviving records, physical evidences and oral histories of the war suggest that minorities in Biafra and mid west became individual and collective victims of the war.
The Biafra minorities did not have a say in the succession. A prolific journalist named Suzanne Cronje on the Biafra war stated that the feelings of the minorities were difficult to define. Loyalties were in fact divided. The cry out for a separate state by the minorities was not a clamour to secede.
When the war broke out, Biafra had stationed some of its troops in the Cross River region including Ikun in Biase Local Government. Though the Ikun initially supported Biafra and had friendly relations with the soldiers, as time went on tensions emerged. Some Ikun men were suspected of collaborating with Nigerian soldiers with no hard evidence. As a result murder, arrests, looting and rapes was meted on that community. William Norris of the London Times who visited Biafra reported an eye witness account of how Ibibio men were surrounded and beaten to death in Umuahia on April 2 1968. They were reportedly forced to march across an open space while the local people attacked them with sticks and clubs.
On another episode, Biafra soldiers took Ikun men to Ohafia for a meeting but never came back with them. An informant alleged that soldiers returned to the community and rounded up some men within their reach and shot them. A survivor who lost her four day old son and grandmother seemed to have suspected foul play from the Ohafia people with whom they share a common boundary.
This victimization continued until the Biafra headquarters issued a statement to stop the genocide. However by this time, the remaining people had escaped leaving behind only soldiers and Ohafia, also some Ikun with a mixed blood of half Ohafia.
B J Ikpeme a Senior Medical Officer in the then Eastern region revealed atrocities perpetuated by Biafra soldiers against the minorities in towns of present day Cross River and Akwa Ibom States.
Ikpemes argument was that Ojukwu`s declaration of Biafra was done against the wishes of the majority of Calaber, Ogoja and Rivers provinces who for many years had agitated for a separate state and not a secession from Nigeria. They were never consulted and Ikpeme also argued that the Igbo leadership had concluded plans of either to force the five million non Igbo speaking Biafra minorities to accept Biafra or eliminate them out rightly. It was on this basis that soldiers were quickly sent to the minority areas to keep down the people, detain or kill anyone who raises an opposing voice against Biafra.[/b]

In Asang town alone about 400 people were carried away to unknown destinations and never came back. Attan Onoyon town suffered the same fate. Enyong was burnt down and many people killed by Biafra soldiers. Biafra soldiers shot many villagers in Ekpenyong, present day Akwa Ibom. On October 18 1967, about 169 civilians in detention were lined up by Biafra soldiers and shot (source: New York Times as an informational advertisement by the Consulate General of the Federal Republic of Nigeria New York).
There was a special operations group within the Biafra forces called Biafra Organisation of Freedom Fighter (BOFF). It was set up in Bende. The objective of the special operations was to suppress the enemy within.
On the disappearance of a Major Archibong, investigations revealed that members of the special operations decapitated their victims for ritual purposes. Head hunting in warfare was a cultural practice in some parts of Biafra known as old Bende.
The minorities in Rivers area seemed worse off. Apart from torture and other forms of human rights abuses, they were also evicted from their homes and Igbo names were allocated to streets. Some Kalabari young men were evicted and sent to Umuahia, Owerri, Abiriba and Ozuitem most likely to avoid infiltration of the enemies. Chief Samuel Mbakwe a Biafra Provincial Administrator of the Okigwe Province had noted the influx of refugees from Port Harcourt.
An Irish priest who served in Rivers State reported that the Igbo soldiers were suspicious of some Rivers people who sometimes led federal troops through their lines along hidden creeks. This attitude, according to the priest, created a mixture of panic, fear, and hatred among the Biafra troops towards some indigenous people of Rivers State. People who were maltreated were said to have been involved in this act of “sabotage” against Biafra.
It is asserted that no fewer than six thousand Rivers people were sent to different refugee camps in Igboland.
MIDWEST (BENIN DELTA)
Before the war, the Mid West region which was carved out of Western Nigeria in 1963 and was never prominent in the various crises that plagued Nigeria prior to the civil war. However it can be noted that a leader of the coup Major Chukwuma Kaduna Nzeogwu hailed from the region. The Mid West before the invasion fell into a sort of mediatory role. The Mid West felt a sort of false security in the days leading to the invasion. Two days before the invasion the Commander of the 4 Area Command of the Nigerian Army based in the Mid West Colonel CD Nwanwo had announced that the region was militarily prepared and equipped to repulse any enemy attack.
But it was not understood who the “enemy” was whether it was Biafra or Nigeria. However subsequent events showed that the region was somewhat sympathetic to the Biafra struggle on hearing of the massacre of Southerners up North. Indeed many Mid Westerners had also been affected in the Northern massacre and gave first hand report of what had transpired after escaping down South.
Food items found their way into Biafra from the Mid West despite the call by the Federal Government for a total boycott of the secessionist enclave.
It was also rumoured that Lt Col. Odumegwu Ojukwu and Rtd Gen David Ejoor were meeting secretly to discuss the crisis before and even after the declaration of Biafra.
According to an article by SE Orobator, Ejoor the Governor General of Mid West had admitted that those actions were taken to prevent battle on Benin soil to protect everybody’s interest including the Igbo speaking citizens of the region even though he primarily supported the Federal Government.
It is a fact that before the invasion, the public at large harboured no ill feelings against Biafra or the Ibos in general. The Mid West was not hostile to the Ibo cause.
There were youths who wore T-shirts of Ojukwus portrait with the inscription “on Aburi we stand”.
There was a cordial relationship between Ibo speaking Mid Westerners and other ethnic groups.
All that changed on August 9 1967 with the Biafra invasion of the region.
The Biafra forces led by Brigadier Victor Adebukunola Banjo on 10 August 1967 appealed to the Mid Westerners in a radio station that the area was about to be invaded by Northern troops. This was propaganda.
Biafra was suffering defeats on the front line in the Nsukka axis againt the Federal troops and wanted to prevent the invasion of Enugu by diverting attention, so the military gamble of Ojukwu was to enter the Mid West with a flanking attack which could have taken the Federal Government off guard if Banjo had continued the momentum and surprise element in proceeding past Ore to Lagos the Federal capital. The command by Ojukwu to stop Banjo from proceeding to Lagos may have turned the tide of the war for the Federal Army and changed the momentum. Ojukwu`s invasion of the Mid West may have been a military strategic brilliance to some expert military strategists.
A school of thought in the military lessons of the war asserts that stopping Banjo from going past Ore was Ojukwus blunder. However another school of thought claims that the Biafra Army will be too stretched behind and could be caught off by the Federal Army from behind if they had proceeded with the momentum and surprise through Ibadan to Lagos. Also it was unpredictable how a Yoruba public will react on seeing Biafra invasion soldiers on their soil. If only Ojukwu had read Suntzu`s Art of War which states:
“When torrential water tosses boulders, it is because of its momentum. When the strike of a hawk breaks the body of its prey, it is because of timing”
Personally in the military strategy of counter strike, I think Ojukwu should have thrown caution to the wind and given Banjo a free hand to proceed on the advantage of a surprise attack. No one was expecting Biafra soldiers in Lagos and this will rattle the Federal Government to withdraw troops against Biafra to defend Lagos and Ibadan. I sense Ojukwu did not trust a Yoruba man to lead his onslaught to Lagos and several key factors like supply and logistics may not have been properly arranged.
If Ojukwu was going to copy Hitlers “Blitzskrig” of invasion of Europe, he just missed it by his hesitation and distrust of Banjo, Ademulegun and Ifeajuna. The invincibility of the British Army at the zenith of the British empire lied not largely on the brilliance of her officers alone but on a free hand given to this officers by the throne to decide initiatives and good judgement on what to do when they have their backs to the wall. But let us leave military strategy to another day.
Simply put, the Federal Government and Mid West Region did not prepare for the August 10th invasion.
I will not go into details of the Banjo`s radio broadcast, but summarily it revealed that Biafra invaded the Mid West to forestall its occupation by Northern troops or any Nigerian troops that could have been less sympathetic to the Biafra cause.
Ojukwu had to strike fast because it was rumoured that the Federal Government was pressurizing Mid West Governor Ejoor to grant Federal troops passage to Biafra but Ejoor refused.
After the invasion, Major Albert Okonkwo was appointed to govern the Mid West by Ojukwu on 17 August. He described the invasion as a temporary administrative arrangement to forestall incursion of Northern troops. There was no truth in the claim because at that time there were no Northern soldiers in the region.
Over 6 thousand Biafran soldiers had crossed the River Niger Bridge into Asaba. At about 3 a.m on August 9 1967 Biafran soldiers led by Banjo entered Asaba. On reaching Agbor, they split up into 3. 18th battalion under Major Humphrey Chukwuka moved in to the oil rich Niger Delta, 13th battalion under Col Mike Inveso towards Auchi and 12th battalion Lt Col Festus Akagha towards Benin city. Benin was captured with little opposition. However the 13th battalion while capturing the towns of Okene and Iloshi started shooting at civilians indiscriminately. Hundreds died. Biafra soldiers met a small unit of Nigeria army and pursued them to the Siluko river were the two sides stood to exchange fire before the Nigerians managed to escape under the cover of darkness.
Unknown to Banjo, Biafran soldiers under Lt Col Oechi attacked the residence of Governor Ejoor on the orders of Ojukwu to capture Ejoor dead or alive. Ejoor`s guards resisted the attack. This resistance gave David Ejoor time to escape and flee to Lagos.
In Lagos, the Ibo army officers in the Mid West were accused of having collaborated with the rebel forces to make the invasion possible. It seemed viable at that time that treachery or a non challant attitude of the Mid West authorities was the reason for the invasion. If the Government had made adequate measures to beef up its defence at Asaba and the outlying border area, perhaps the invasion could have been prevented.
Even after Governor Ejoor had been informed of the invasion of Asaba as it was taking place at 3 a.m by military Area Commander Col Nwanwo, no adequate arrangements were made to offer any resistance whatsoever.
Troops loyal to the Federal Government could not put up any full resistance since majority of them were not armed and the armoury was locked with the keys kept by the officers in charge.
Even though Governor Ejoor had suspected a sort of conspiracy among the military officers in his cabinet, it was now too late to do anything about it.
Ejoor admitted in his press conference in 25 September 1967 that his fault has been too much trust and confidence in his colleagues.
Of the seven senior officers assisting him, six were Ibos, and three of the six were his old friends in Government College. Lt Colonel Okwechime, Lt Col Nwanjei and Lt Col Nzefili. The camaraderie spirit blinded Governor Ejoor to trust his colleagues almost absolutely. However the priorities of his colleagues were quite different.
Ejoor also proclaimed that supporting the Federal side did not compel sacrificing the Igbo speaking Bendel.
Obviously the Igbo officers had exploited the trust and confidence reposed on them by Governor Ejoor and as a result lowered the defences of the Mid West to repel Biafra soldiers.
Was Ejoor guilty of non vigilance? That is left for posterity to judge.
The invasion of the mid west culminated in the breakdown of mutual trust that had existed between the Ibos and non Ibos of the region. The non Ibos did not find it funny and could not fight back because they were not armed.
Secondly the apparent sympathy for Ibo and the Biafra cause which had prevailed amongst the Mid West youth suffered an irreparable dent. The Mid Western youth were not only humiliated but they were upset at the molestation by Biafran soldiers on their women and children.
According to Nwanne W Okafors book titled: Victimization During the Nigerian Civil War: A focus on the Asaba Massacre, during the war military operations were executed by the federal troops to weaken the Biafra soldiers with the main aim to getting them to surrender. In retaliation, the Biafra soldiers, in resisting federal troops fought back by attacking towns that were under the protection on the federal troops. The mass killings of non Igbo speaking people were evident. Raping and extortion, seizure of properties and other forms of inhuman punishment was rampant.
The federal troops were also guilty of rapes, looting and outright brigandry perpetuated on the Igbo speaking people of Asaba. The killing of many civilians in October 1967 in Asaba is well documented.
A vigilance council group was set up shortly after the invasion and was primary concerned with spying on mid western civil servants. Its secretary S Osuh played a prominent role. The council led by Okonkwo met 3 times daily in the ministry of works and transport, Benin City.
The membership drive were not easy because non Ibos and even Ibo speaking citizens of the mid west were no longer willing to cooperate.
There was a road block unit which confiscated food items including goats sheeps and chickens from the citizens. This confiscated items ended up in army barracks in the mid west and Biafra.
The Okonkwo regime was oppressive and each day the sympathy of the Mid Western towards the Biafra cause was dieing at break neck speed.
I will again refer to the Chinese Sunt zu`s Art of War does and donts which military commanders around the world often disregard when invading an area. The Chinese philosopher and Military strategists warns against cruelty against the citizens of the conquered land. Suntzu explains that treating the inhabitants of an invaded land fairly can save the lives of the invading troops and win solidarity to their side.
The Banjo led troops even though they had momentum on their side became oppressive towards the people of the Mid Western region. And so Mid Westerners simply hoped and waited for the arrival of federal troops.
On August 20 a group of Urhobo/Ijaw rebels raided a Biafra camp and were successful at killing about 50 soldiers while 16 rebels were killed. The Biafra Government began broadcasting Biafra propaganda in the region while the Nigerian government did the same. On September 19, Ojukwu declared Governor Okonkwo President of the Republic of Benin in an attempt to make Mid Westerners loyal to a Government other than Nigeria.
On September 20 while General Mutala Muhammed troops were attacking the Biafran 12th
Brigade stationed in Ore, the retreating troops began to loot the city and stole about £3 million from the Central Bank. Benjamin Adekunle`s landing in Warri forced many Biafra soldiers to abandon their uniforms and weapons before integrating into the local communities.
Under the supervision of General Mutala Mohammed, in retaliation for the assassination of Ahmadu Bello at the hands of Kaduna Nzeogwu one year earlier, Nigerian soldiers shot over 600 unarmed civilians in Asaba.
The bodies of some of the victims were retrieved by family members and buried at home. But most were buried in mass graves without appropriate ceremony.
CONCLUSION
War is the fall of man. Both sides carried atrocities on the minorities. The minorities in the Mid West were never anti Biafra until their land was invaded. In fact minorities in that area looked forward to hearing the well polished Oxford trained Ojukwu`s voice on radio broadcast, however all this changed when, without any warning Biafran troops invaded their land and not only doing that, but setting up an oppressive government and killing anyone that they felt was against the succession. Minorities in that region never intended to secede with Biafra but clamoured for its own separate state in the community of the Nigerian nation. Biafra on the other hand strategically invaded this region on the presumption that they will be welcomed with open hands. Biafran troops could have helped themselves better by being fair and kind to the host. The reports of extortions, executions and rapes did not help matters when the countering Federal army began pushing Biafrans back into the East and while the retreating soldiers were shooting at anything that moves, any slight advantage given to minorities on killing Ibos were taken with welcomed pleasure of revenge.
General Gowon said: No victor, no vanquish. He was right. The people in every side had
suffered untold hardship which could have been prevented if politicians and soldiers alike had come to the round table to discuss their differences.
RECOMMENDATIONS
I believe that in the spirit of true reconciliation, ex Biafran soldiers should be given back their full military honors. Afterall the man who led them to war, was buried in full Nigerian military regalia. The renegade Nigerian Ibo officers who had no option but to fight on the side of Biafra should be honoured.
Nigeria now has a credible leader in the person of General Buhari and he can carve his name in gold if a conference of reconciliation and forgiveness from all side is constituted. We must not be scared to tell each other the truth if Nigeria is to be great again. The fundamental pathway to greatness is true dialogue, justice and forgiveness. Greatness seats upon a nation in a step by step pathway towards her Utopian dream.
I think the spirit of Biafra will be laid down on the table of justice, forgiveness and good governance for all. Nigeria can be great if we look at the value that unifies us rather than what divides us.

seunmsg:


In war, anything goes. That's why it's better not to start a war you are not fully prepared for. It saves you stories like this. That is why I will blame Ojukwu for starting a war he knew he can't win. He's a war criminal for wasting the lives of 2million Igbos for no reason. Beside, both sides committed war crimes during the war.

So for example if a weaker country datz fed up with the bulls!t of anoda stronger country decides to damn all consequences and go to war...their leader should be labelled a war criminal ryt? That's your definition of a war criminal init?

Can you see how tribalism & hate has messed up your thinking?

Spanner4:
Who is murtala Mohammed? I don't knw who he is

he s a man from the north,the yoruba see him as a hero and that s why they praise and worship him till death.

Hope you know him now

Murtala muhammed set a record of war crimes.
In a rain of blood., tens of thousands of innocent youth.,some of them just 6 years old were lined up on the streets of Asaba and executed in cold blood on direct order of murtala.

Happy he never escaped justice in this world and he will definitely be getting his punishment also in the spirit realm!!

some people just went to school to study nonsens , wia dia iz no unity dia wn't be progress , nigerian fault line cannot be amended, 4get dey selfish heros lets devide dis great country