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Nairaland Forum / Nairaland / General / Politics / Biafra Did Not Surrender – Achuzia (16585 Views)
Igbo Warlord, Achuzia Reveals Origin Of 'Biafra'. / Biafra Did Not Die A Peaceful Death In 1970, Her Spirit Reawakened By PMB. / Why Igbo Elite Are Scared To Back Biafra Struggle – Col. Joe Achuzia (2) (3) (4)
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Biafra Did Not Surrender – Achuzia by Emytexboy(m): 4:11pm On Aug 06, 2015 |
Col. Joe Achuzia was one of the
major figures that held Biafra
together while the Nigerian Civil
war lasted. He commanded
almost all the major sectors in the
Biafran Army and also ensured
that discipline was enforced
throughout the duration of the
war. Before the war ended, he was
in charge of operations in the
whole enclave called Biafra. This
position made it possible for him
to begin the necessary overtures
to end the war. While Ojukwu was
away, he took over control of the
forces and then made the
appropriate contacts to bring the
war to an end. In this interview
with Edozie Udeze, he debunks
some of the claims made by Gen.
Alabi Isama and Gen. Alani
Akinrinade in their recent
interviews.
Gen. Alabi Isama in his latest
book on the war alleged that Mid-
western officers were alienated. Is
it really true that as the
Commander-in-Chief of the
Biafran Armed Forces,
Chukwuemeka Odumegwu
Ojukwu, did not trust some of the
Midwestern Igbo officers while the
war lasted?
It is not true. Why I say it is not
true is that for Biafra to have
lasted so long, it was as a result
of the efforts of the Mid-western
officers. This was because Biafra
was really being hard pushed until
the mid-west operation began.
And the Midwest officers that
were supposed to go across,
Alabi-Isama was one of them.
Even then my own journey into
the mid west when Banjo crossed
into Mid west, Alabi too was one
of those that I contacted. But
somewhere along the line, after
our meeting, after we gave him
some instructions to follow
across, Alabi defected. And he
didn’t come back. So, for him to
say that Ojukwu didn’t like some
Mid west officers couldn’t be true.
This was so because it was the
Mid-west officers, all the way to
the lower ranks, that really held
Murtala from crossing over the
bridge thereby entering Biafra.
This was when Murtala started
his so-called operation to cross
the Niger. It was mid western
officers who fought and sustained
the momentum. These were the
52 and 57 brigades that are also
manned by the Mid west officers.
It is unfortunate that many people
from hindsight now after over 40
years of the war are writing books
on the war. This is an after-
thought after having read over
other people’s works on the war,
reading newspaper comments
and other people’s statements
and interviewing people. Now,
they have got themselves in the
position as being authority on the
war.
I wouldn’t take Alabi’s document
as a serious one. The only aspect
of his statement that really
deserves comment and which
shows his inability to appreciate
the war situation and reporting it
as it were, was his reporting what
did not happen in his presence.
He talked about the end of the
war, mentioning the participants.
He is not in the position to say
what he said about the end of the
war. He wasn’t there.
The first person who was there
was General Alani Akinrinade.
Also Tomoye. Then Tomoye was
not a substantive colonel. The
command that reached Orlu was
Tomoye’s command. And it was
Tomoye’s officer that my men and
in a night operation and captured
them that made it possible for me
to take the step I took by declaring
that everybody should lay down
their arms. Then I said we could
be announcing it until I was able
to bring Akinrinade into my
headquarters. The narrative by
Alabi shows ignorance of what
happened that day. That’s what I
can say about that. The only
person that many a time I look at
and say let sleeping dogs lie is
General Akinrinade. This was
because of his behaviour from the
moment we met was officer-like.
And he conducted himself in a
way that endeared him to me that
up till date, we are still friends.
Alabi, however, was right in one
thing that the war had already
ended before General Obasanjo
came into the picture. And he
came on the scene after I allowed
General Akinrinade to make a call
to him. And he told him that if he
didn’t come, he might stand to
lose his officers who were under
my control then. When Akinrinade
came, he came with only a few
soldiers. We met at Orlu, I didn’t
go to Owerri to look for any of
them.
Now, we told Tomoye to phone
him because Tomoye stood to
lose all his officers and in Brigade
they ventured into our territory
near Orlu.
We assured Tomoye that we had
already started to take steps to
bring the war to an end. His
officers that were collected were
already deposited near my office
in Igbo-ukwu. As a result, it
wasn’t proper for me to claim that
I went to Owerri looking for who
to surrender to. Surrender who or
what to who? After all, it was in
my house while discussing with
Akinrinade that we decided that in
that instance we were bringing
the war to an end. There was
indeed no winner, no vanquished.
The war had deteriorated into a
state of stalemate, whereby we
were trading one bullet for
another.
By this time our men were crisis-
crossing the war front because
both the Nigerian soldiers and our
soldiers were tired of the whole
thing; the whole episode.
Could you please elaborate more
on the last days of the war?
Let me also elaborate more on the
events of the last days…
I read in the internet Akinrinade’s
rejoinder. So I asked for it to be
printed out. Akinrinade is the last
person I expected to sanction
what Alabi-Isama wrote or said
about the end of the war. Isama
wasn’t there. Akinrinade was
there. Tomoye was there. The rest
were just junior officers. Those
collected that night of 11th were
junior officers and they were in
charge of a battalion which made
it possible for us to move. It was
almost a disaster. We could have
capitalised on it but we were on
the quest to bring the war to an
end. Hence, we detained them at
the DMI office in Igbo-ukwu, got
them to send a message to their
commander, Tomoye. Tomoye
replied that he would contact
Owerri. The officer at Owerri
tactical headquarters, Col. Oni
who replied that Obasanjo said he
would send his chief-of-staff,
Akinrinade, to come and negotiate
with us. 7 Likes 1 Share
|
Re: Biafra Did Not Surrender – Achuzia by Emytexboy(m): 4:11pm On Aug 06, 2015 |
We were also mindful of the fact
that during the pogrom in the
North, the majority of the soldiers
as far as the North was
concerned, Midwest was an Igbo
land. It was in fact an afterthought
when they tried to woo the Benins,
the Urhobo’s and so on, forgetting
that the Benins and Urhobos were
some of those they killed during
the pogrom.
So, ranging them against us by
pacifying them as they did when
they created Cross-River and
Rivers States, it was not done to
appease the North. No. it was
done to range them against the
Igbo people by telling them that
they were sufficient to be on their
own as states. And that they
should not be an appendage of the
Igbos. They even forgot that we
could have done the same by
moving into the North, bringing
the Middlebelt against the
Fulanis.
But we didn’t do that. So, that
was what it was like.
Okay, were all these part of the
blunders that prolonged the war?
Of course, yes. If we had played
the game the way Nigeria played
it, we would still be in the battle
field today. But our people have a
saying that the hen with so many
chicks doesn’t know how to run in
a battle situation.
At what point did the Biafran high
command begin to consider some
of the officers as saboteurs and
what did it take one to be so
considered?
In many war situations, the word
sabotage is a constant and
recurrent decimal. This is so
because not all believe in the
cause that brought about the war
situation. People have different
ideas and ideals. And some
people, according to their belief,
put themselves in the position
where they were either the
loyalists or considered anti-war
efforts. This was what gave rise to
the word saboteur. So it happens
everywhere and it occurs
everywhere.
You have nicknamed the Air Raid.
How did this name come about?
Oh, no, no. I can’t continue to
dwell on this.
But you’ve not told it to us before?
Okay, why I say so is that soldiers,
especially in a conflict situation
have the tendency for giving one
name or the other to their officers,
depending on the situation they
find themselves. So, they did that
when they wanted.
You didn’t start out as a
commissioned officer, but rose to
be a force to reckon with. How did
it happen?
No, no. you see, people don’t
seem to understand that
soldiering is an art. Just like
engineering or medicine, when a
doctor is made to be so. You
cannot just go into an operating
room, pick up your instruments
and begin to work, if you haven’t
been trained. So also in a war
situation. You cannot go into
battle field and carry out all the
norms necessary for an officer
who had been trained over the
years.
A civilian cannot plan war and
execute war. It requires a trained
military officer to confuse and
configure the situation and
operate. That is why many a time
people say what they like and I
don’t care. It doesn’t affect people
like me; I am not interested. The
situation occured within the
purview of my duty and I operated
just to show what I was trained
for. After that I retired into a
civilian life.
What really happened – did you
actually kill Haliday, the owner of
Silver Valley Hotel in the presence
of his wife and daughter as
alleged by General Alani
Akinrinade?
That’s a lie. You see, when the
war ended, Nigerian officers didn’t
know what to do about me. First,
they couldn’t reach me. Every
effort made to kill me did not
succeed. Haliday was a friend.
My house, before the war started,
was a stone’s throw from Chief
Haliday’s house. If such a thing
happened, why was it only at the
end of the war that we started
hearing that I was the one that
killed him?
I commanded; I took over in Port
Harcourt, when Port Harcourt was
falling. And all that participated
there will give testimony that I
never picked a gun and shot him.
I never picked my gun and shot at
somebody. Why should I? I had
soldiers who could do that. But
instead, they tried to foist the
death of Haliday on me. That
exactly was what they’ve been
saying; that I had been killing
people indiscriminately while the
war lasted. That also is not true.
It took the way the war ended for
most Biafrans to realise that it
was really a lie that whenever I
saw somebody I’d shoot. Shoot
for what? For what purpose? And
if that was the case, would I lay
my life on the line to bring the war
to an end? After all, the people
who asked that the war be
brought to an end are still alive.
People like P.K. Nwokedi, a former
justice of Enugu. Louis Mbanefo
too. These were the people who
came to my house and pleaded
that I should try to stop the war.
Normally, I would have called for
their arrest, because they were
members of Biafran Exco. They
were party to the last meeting we
held with Ojukwu to ask Ojukwu
to go to the conference that was
to hold in Monrovia, Liberia. That
conference was engineered by Dr.
Nnamdi Azikiwe.
It was this meeting that we
arranged laboriously for where
Ojukwu could stay so that there
won’t be any sabotage against
us. Hence, Felix Houphet- Boigny
was one of those that recognised
Biafran efforts. And the French
were also partially assisting us.
So, from Liberia, it was planned to
move Ojukwu to Gabon and then
to Ivory Coast. But we hadn’t
settled down in Ivory Coast in
readiness for the meeting when
members of the EXco came
requesting that I should bring the
war to an end.
How come then you were the man
everybody wanted to see to end
the war?
I was the person in charge of
operations. I was also visible.
Yes, I was.
Do you think because the Yoruba
officers were the ones that saw to
the end of the war, it has caused
any friction between them and the
Igbo people?
No, because a day after my
declaration, I started the
announcement from 9a.m. Every
15 minutes, my broadcast was
on. Sir Louis Mbanefo crafted the
statement that we gave Philip
Effiong to read. After it was read, it
became necessary because in my
broadcast, we said we had sent
emissaries to various Nigerian
military formations to inform
them that we had decided to end
the war.
It is only people with authority
who could do that. Any army on
the run will not make such
statement. So, we did it on a
friendly basis. Today Akin is still
my friend. We meet from time to
time. He visits me here too. No, it
has not caused any friction at all.
Why was it possible for the Owerri
battle front to be inclusive as it
were? 3 Likes |
Re: Biafra Did Not Surrender – Achuzia by Emytexboy(m): 4:13pm On Aug 06, 2015 |
First and foremost, to take over
Owerri was impossible. Owerri is
the heartland of the Igbo nation.
The heart land of our domain.
Enugu is our foremost town which
was prepared by the colonial
masters as an administrative
headquarters. Just as Lagos is to
the West, even though Ibadan was
the heartland of the Yoruba. So,
also in the North, they have
Kaduna State, which now they
have Abuja, even though they
have Sokoto, Maiduguiri and
those other places.
Nigeria is centered on a tripod,
whichever way you push it, all
that come to the surface are the
Hausa nation, the Yoruba nation
and the Igbo nation. Each of these
nations has minorities. Today, all
that people talk about are the
minorities within the East, within
the Igbo nation because of
economic interest. If oil has not
been the main source of income
for the totality of Nigerians,
nobody would care how the Ijaws,
how the Itsekiris, the Ibibios,
Kalabairis, the Efiks and so on, are
faring. This is so because they’ve
been in existence before the
arrival of the Europeans.
http://thenationonlineng.net/biafra-did-not-surrender-achuzia/ |
Re: Biafra Did Not Surrender – Achuzia by donholy28(m): 4:14pm On Aug 06, 2015 |
All Hail the land of d rising sun 12 Likes 1 Share |
Re: Biafra Did Not Surrender – Achuzia by Icon4s(m): 4:26pm On Aug 06, 2015 |
See how old and fragile a once vibrant fearless Joe Achuzie is. One of my war heroes. My late Dad another war veteran told us a lot abt this man. These are men that d Igbo people should celebrate and not Opportunists like Ralph Uwazurike and Nnamdi Kanu. 17 Likes 1 Share |
Re: Biafra Did Not Surrender – Achuzia by BRIGHTTAZ: 4:27pm On Aug 06, 2015 |
True talk our hero. 6 Likes |
Re: Biafra Did Not Surrender – Achuzia by Nobody: 4:30pm On Aug 06, 2015 |
History..... |
Re: Biafra Did Not Surrender – Achuzia by Nobody: 4:33pm On Aug 06, 2015 |
Yo-rubber people can't be trusted ... Bunch of betrayers 16 Likes |
Re: Biafra Did Not Surrender – Achuzia by SOUNDKING: 4:37pm On Aug 06, 2015 |
mcchaka:i want to say a special thank you to the op,for bringing this to NL,let the truth be told wheather the enemy like it or not,God bless Biafra 18 Likes |
Re: Biafra Did Not Surrender – Achuzia by Nobody: 4:43pm On Aug 06, 2015 |
SOUNDKING: .........One Love Biafrans..... 12 Likes |
Re: Biafra Did Not Surrender – Achuzia by hakeem4(m): 4:44pm On Aug 06, 2015 |
Make all these biafrans they there they whine them self 31 Likes 1 Share
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Re: Biafra Did Not Surrender – Achuzia by Nobody: 4:45pm On Aug 06, 2015 |
Lemon12: ......Umu Ofe manu....okwi hotara, 4 Likes |
Re: Biafra Did Not Surrender – Achuzia by PassingShot(m): 4:47pm On Aug 06, 2015 |
Lemon12:Funny you. Na Yoruba say make you go fight war? 27 Likes 1 Share |
Re: Biafra Did Not Surrender – Achuzia by Deltagiant: 5:11pm On Aug 06, 2015 |
Achuzia, the 'Hannibal' of Biafra Your place in history is assured. 8 Likes |
Re: Biafra Did Not Surrender – Achuzia by superstar1(m): 5:35pm On Aug 06, 2015 |
They did not surrender. They were conquered. No story. 27 Likes |
Re: Biafra Did Not Surrender – Achuzia by Nobody: 6:09pm On Aug 06, 2015 |
PassingShot: Wen Gowon failed to adhere to d Aburi accord, west n east agreed to adhere to a clause ind aburri accord which was to declare independence where east forms a state, west forms theirs n allow north to be on their own. Ojukwu met wit the yoruba congress n dis agreement to declare independence was agreed. Ojukwu went home n declared biafra n den the s waste refuse to declare d republic they so much loved... S waste na sabotage @ all levels. 18 Likes 2 Shares |
Re: Biafra Did Not Surrender – Achuzia by wakaman: 6:30pm On Aug 06, 2015 |
See igbo people mouth ooo. 3 Likes |
Re: Biafra Did Not Surrender – Achuzia by millionaireman: 6:56pm On Aug 06, 2015 |
Alabi Isama was a weakling. Weaklings make the most noise. In wars, weak people can't easily make a choice .That's why Alabi was defecting from one side to the other. Alabi till now keeps seeking attention through bla bla bla in his war memoirs. Biafra leader did not surrender. Implications: Biafra did not surrender 2 Likes 1 Share |
Re: Biafra Did Not Surrender – Achuzia by oduastates: 8:11pm On Aug 06, 2015 |
10 Likes 1 Share |
Re: Biafra Did Not Surrender – Achuzia by hakeem4(m): 8:21pm On Aug 06, 2015 |
chuna1985:bro this your lie ehn 19 Likes |
Re: Biafra Did Not Surrender – Achuzia by oduastates: 8:30pm On Aug 06, 2015 |
hakeem4: Yes , this is another one of the crap they keep spewing . After conniving( azikwe) with the North( ahmadu bello) to create the Midwest and conveniently ignoring all the autonomous movement from the northern region and the eastern region ( ijaws , efik , ogonis ), the stage was set for nemesis to catch with them. Azikwe and ahmadu bello did it to weaken the western region . Eventually they threw Awo in prison on trumped up charges with just one witness testimony. They ignored all the pleadings for separate regions by the minorities Karma is a biiiitcccchhhh. Karma caught up with the east when the intransigence and the petulance of ojukwu during the aburi negotiations finally resulted in Gowon showing his hand . Ojukwu said the eastern region would not share the newly discovered oil in the land of the minorities with the North ( the western region paid for herself ) This is after sharing from resources from other places before oil . what did Gowon do ? He checkmated ojukwu. He did exactly what should have been done ( as per the agitations of minorities before independence) when the Midwest region was created . He created more states as per the wishes of the minorities . Seeing that the ijaw oil that the igbos were banking on had been removed from their grasp, ojukwu declared Biafra as the only means to retain control of that oil. 21 Likes 2 Shares |
Re: Biafra Did Not Surrender – Achuzia by DonBobes(m): 8:34pm On Aug 06, 2015 |
Dey surrendered because if nt d war wuld hv bn prolonged & resulted to unusual loss of lives. He shuld stop sayi dey dint surrender, dts nt true because dey did. Anyway he is one of my war heros tho. 2 Likes |
Re: Biafra Did Not Surrender – Achuzia by Cjrane2: 8:39pm On Aug 06, 2015 |
[size=15pt]The indomitable Col. Joseph " Hannibal" Achuzia Commander: Biafran Special "Operations" Forces Even your adversary Col. Murtala Mohammed respected you[/size] 12 Likes 1 Share
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Re: Biafra Did Not Surrender – Achuzia by Omambala1(m): 8:43pm On Aug 06, 2015 |
Yes! My Daddy told me so. Biafrans never surrendered 5 Likes |
Re: Biafra Did Not Surrender – Achuzia by Deltagiant: 8:44pm On Aug 06, 2015 |
Cjrane2:Thanks CJ for providing us this beautiful pix of the dreaded "Hannibal". Dalu. |
Re: Biafra Did Not Surrender – Achuzia by hakeem4(m): 8:58pm On Aug 06, 2015 |
oduastates: 8 Likes |
Re: Biafra Did Not Surrender – Achuzia by hakeem4(m): 9:00pm On Aug 06, 2015 |
Omambala1:but they were conquered 9 Likes |
Re: Biafra Did Not Surrender – Achuzia by SOUNDKING: 9:11pm On Aug 06, 2015 |
oduastates:if you re-write history to suit your hipocrisy,you may not know your children,do u think other countris don't know about that war?,do you think it was only Ojukwu and gowan that went to Aburi?,do you think there was no documentation doing that time?, what made them go to Aburi?, incase you meant what you typed,just know, it is a very long but wrong epistle,google may help you.where are the documents of our surender?. 4 Likes |
Re: Biafra Did Not Surrender – Achuzia by Nobody: 9:21pm On Aug 06, 2015 |
hakeem4: Are u north waste |
Re: Biafra Did Not Surrender – Achuzia by homosapien(m): 9:26pm On Aug 06, 2015 |
chuna1985: you must be Ojukwu personal Secretary to know all this gibberish you just spill. always trying to rewrite history to suit your over bloated ego. ride on 9 Likes |
Re: Biafra Did Not Surrender – Achuzia by Nobody: 9:52pm On Aug 06, 2015 |
Emytexboy: The bolded caught my attention and it should noted by the people of Niger-Delta. The more reason for Gideon Orkar's coup. |
Re: Biafra Did Not Surrender – Achuzia by Nobody: 10:27pm On Aug 06, 2015 |
homosapien: Homosapien pls Dnt disgrace urself. Go n read ALL about d Aburi accord n save urself d stresss. |
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