@post

Truth is bitter and hard to swallow! This man gave an eye witness account, yet some people that were not yet born at the time are here calling him a liar because they read distorted literatures about the civil war.

Eziachi:

Ibime,
You are an intelligent guy, please tell me how Ejoor who was just a major at that time is a threat to a general? the general that wants him out of the way advise him not to go to Enugu (Igboland)?
Have you heard where an officer was told about a coup plot, he not only refused to take part but fought against it, reported the plotters, which suppose to earn them treason and a death sentence and then when the said coup did happened, the same soldiers that he reported over a coup plot not only massively promoted him in rank but made him a governor over the same people he reported of plotting a coup? My brother did that make sense?

When the coup plotters arrived Lagos, the instruction was to kill Ironsi but he escaped by a wisker and hid in Ijora container depot, from were he organised a counter attack against a coup he was supposed to be plotting. Does that make sense to you?

My point and yours are exactly the same. . . . Ironsi did not know about the coup, just like I said. . . . however, Ejoor is probably right when he says that Igbo soldiers had been planning a military putsch since Independence. . . whether Ojukwu and Ironsi were roped into their plot is of no consequence, but it is hard to fathom that Ojukwu never recieved wind of it. . . . . I do not for a second buy the excuse that the coup plotters gave. . . . they had always had intentions of seizing power. . . the act itself is evidence of the intention. . . . . the fact that they killed Akintola, Bello and Sardauna but spared Igbo sons in power only paints the coup as a 'tribal' one. . . .

Ibime:

My point and yours are exactly the same. . . . Ironsi did not know about the coup, just like I said. . . . however, Ejoor is probably right when he says that Igbo soldiers had been planning a military putsch since Independence. . . whether Ojukwu and Ironsi were roped into their plot is of no consequence, but it is hard to fathom that Ojukwu never recieved wind of it. . . . . I do not for a second buy the excuse that the coup plotters gave. . . . they had always had intentions of seizing power. . . the act itself is evidence of the intention. . . . . the fact that they killed Akintola, Bello and Sardauna but spared Igbo sons in power only paints the coup as a 'tribal' one. . . .

We ssems to have forgotten what it mean to tell an officer about a coup plot and he kept it to himself.
Ibime, the architect of the coup was sharing the same flat with Obasanjo at that time but never told him but tell Ademoyegan, who led the coup in Enugu. The contineous misinformation is the idea that the coup was done by Igbos alone and no one else just because of Nzengwo.
Ademoyegan in his book said that the instrunction was to arrest all the politicians but only to use force is their is armed resistance. He said that when they got to Enugu, they realised that it was impossible to get Michael Okpara and Ibiam because they were hosting a visiting Yugoslav president (president Tito) who was meant to depart the day before but postponed it and you can't re-arrange a coup.
Azikiwe was Abroad reprsesenting Nigeria at the empire conference along with other govt officials. Does Azikiwe part of the coup too.

SegzyJoe:

@post

Truth is bitter and hard to swallow! This man gave an eye witness account, yet some people that were not yet born at the time are here calling him a liar because they read distorted literatures about the civil war.

Whether one was born at that time or not is not really the issue, are we supposed swallow Ejoor's account(as he understood them) hook sinker and line?
The beauty of this written document is that it will be subjected to the test of logic, time, and verification; after all it's one of the reasons for the civil war.

@Ibime
So with all known written records and many oral accounts saying that Ojukwu did not know about the coup, why do you and David Ejoor keep insisting that Ojukwu was part of the coup? It must make you feel good? Even when there's no evidence?

@ Ibime, I will suggest that you read the interview again and this time with a neutral mind; you will find that the amount of holes in his account will put a basket to shame. He was Mister Nobody and still is.

His mates like Obasanjo, Adekunle, Murtala, Danjuma and co were out there doing serious battle with indefatigable Biafran Soldiers like Ajuzie, Nzeogwu, Effiong, Nwawo, Madiebo, My Uncle De Martin and his brother De Smart while he hid in one corner drinking kai kai.

People paid with their lives and the least the man should do is to tell the truth. How can you believe a person who recounts events including what was said behind his back in secret ?

FACE:

People paid with their lives and the least the man should do is to tell the truth. How can you believe a person who recounts events including what was said behind his back in secret ?

He told the truth as per his recollection. For heaven's sake Ejoor was there and you were not, so how come you know the truth more than him.

I agree people paid with there lives but you can't blame that on the truth being told. Your blame should go to the over ambitious Igbo officers hell bent on seizing power after independence. Blame should also go to Awolowo who reneged on the promise to remove the West from the federation.  David Ejoor  recounted what he saw and witnessed but unfortunately this does not fit in with your distorted views about  events. Let it go bro.

I agree people paid with there lives but you can't blame that on the truth being told. Your blame should go to the over ambitious Igbo officers hell bent on seizing power after independence. Blame should also go to Awolowo who reneged on the promise to remove the West from the federation. David Ejoor recounted what he saw and witnessed but unfortunately this does not fit in with your distorted views about events. Let it go bro.

How is his view distorted?

sleek_p:

He told the truth as per his recollection. For heaven's sake Ejoor was there and you were not, so how come you know the truth more than him.

I agree people paid with there lives but you can't blame that on the truth being told. Your blame should go to the over ambitious Igbo officers hell bent on seizing power after independence. Blame should also go to Awolowo who reneged on the promise to remove the West from the federation. David Ejoor recounted what he saw and witnessed but unfortunately this does not fit in with your distorted views about events. Let it go bro.

Igbo officers like Ademoyegan

Ibime:

My point and yours are exactly the same. . . . Ironsi did not know about the coup, just like I said. . . . however, Ejoor is probably right when he says that Igbo soldiers had been planning a military putsch since Independence. . . whether Ojukwu and Ironsi were roped into their plot is of no consequence, but it is hard to fathom that Ojukwu never recieved wind of it. . . . . I do not for a second buy the excuse that the coup plotters gave. . . . they had always had intentions of seizing power. . . the act itself is evidence of the intention. . . . . the fact that they killed Akintola, Bello and Sardauna but spared Igbo sons in power only paints the coup as a 'tribal' one. . . .

@Ibime,
Its strange how you have found it hard to deduce that Ironsi and Ojukwu being involved in the coup is of no consequence to the claim that Igbos have been planning coup since independence.

That story is not his own Biafra war account rather he is trying to prove that igbos have been planning coup since independence.

All over that write up, the man spent a lot of energy trying to link Ojukwu and Ironsi with that coup and yet you think he's doing it for no reason? These two people played the most important roles before and after the coup therefore linking them with the coup is simply an attempt by Ejoor to drive home his point, but he obviously wasnt very smart about it.
Just too many holes in that story.

For those claiming we are not born then,
We do not have to be born then to know when he is out of line. Thats why theres HISTORY. His view differs so much from what his colleagues of that era who are not even igbos wrote.

It reminds of one very old man in my village that lies to young people about world war 2 which he claims to be a veteran. He told us all sorts lies about his actions at the war front but when i grew up enough and got to start reading, i realized that the man did not even leave the shores of Nigeria during WW2. As a matter of fact the people conscripted from Nigeria to fight in the war did not get there before ww2 ended.

Will I be wrong if I call this very old man a liar?

The posted interview that has been accredited to one David Ejoor is an embodiment of delusion. In fact, it is a ranting of a deluded ant.

Dede1:

The posted interview that has been accredited to one David Ejoor is an embodiment of delusion. In fact, it is a ranting of a deluded ant.

an unfortunately "tribalistically" oriented Nigerian, who cannot see beyond his ethnic sentiments and objectively look at issues.

I agree people paid with there lives but you can't blame that on the truth being told. Your blame should go to the over ambitious Igbo officers hell bent on seizing power after independence. Blame should also go to Awolowo who reneged on the promise to remove the West from the federation.  David Ejoor  recounted what he saw and witnessed but unfortunately this does not fit in with your distorted views about  events. Let it go bro.

Sleek P, I am not here to apportion blame to anyone as that will veer off the course of this topic, which is Ejoor's views.

Please read his account with a neutral mind and tell me how many holes you can find. Unlike you, I am not going to blame Awolowo or even Gowon, because they did what they felt was in their best interest during war time. Am I condoning their tactics ? Hell no, but thats another topic.

I have read many books on the war and I know enough to know what the truth looks like. My Uncle Smart was a Major who died in Nsukka sector. His younger brother, De Martin was a 2nd Lt, a real combact soldier who fought all over the place. He was among those that made it back from Ore on foot (more than 300 KM) when Banjo abandoned his men. Was among the last Biafran troops to pull out of Calabar. Was holed up at SPC Calabar for six days with a few men with his LMG to cover the retreat of other troops holding back  the Federal advance, returning fire for fire, ripping  federal troops apart and watching his men fall by their guns.

I Had many Uncles that came back from the north before Biafra was declared having lost all their wealth. How can you possibly justify the killing of hundreds of thousands of easterners just because Five eastern soldiers led a coup which had at least two Yorubas as well ?

May all those who are in agreement that innocent people deserved to be killed because of the acts  of their kinsmen, meet the same fate when someone from their ethnic group goes on a misguided adventure.

Have you ever read about what happened to Eastern officers and passengers at Kano Airport before Biafra ? Let me school you a little bit son; Men were rounded up by their colleagues and shot dead in the presence of foreigners. Eastern passengers suffered the same fate on that day. It was open season on easterners following Ironsi's overthrow and Gowon looked the other way.

You said to let it go. Face has already let go. Most Igbos have let go and moved on. Most Nigerians have not and derive pleasure in opening up old wounds just to hurt other people. This Issue is very sensitive to me and other Igbos but you guys just wont let us be.

Why do you guys act like this ? Is it because you failed to humiliate us as you planned when you declared war on us ? Is it because you are upset that your £20 could not achieve what your hunger strategy could not achieve ? Or is it because, the man you thought you'd kicked down is still standing.

You set higher standards for us in every thing and you think its fair ? All we want at this point is the right to be treated with respect just like we treat you with respect.

Though young men throw stone at frogs in sports, the frogs do not die in sports but in earnest. (Unkindness may be good fun to you, but not same for the recipient)

FACE:

May all those who are in agreement that innocent people deserved to be killed because of the acts of their kinsmen, meet the same fate when someone from their ethnic group goes on a misguided adventure.

Have you ever read about what happened to Eastern officers and passengers at Kano Airport before Biafra ? Let me school you a little bit son; Men were rounded up by their colleagues and shot dead in the presence of foreigners. Eastern passengers suffered the same fate on that day. It was open season on easterners following Ironsi's overthrow and Gowon looked the other way.

WORD! Universally true.

Don't be biased my friend, it only makes you come across like a tribalist. You said "Please read his account with a neutral mind and tell me how many holes you can find". How come you didn't expose the lie the distinguished Ejoor raised?

I have read many books on the war and I know enough to know what the truth looks like. My Uncle Smart was a Major who died in Nsukka sector. His younger brother, De Martin was a 2nd Lt, a real combact soldier who fought all over the place.

Sorry about your Uncle Smart but he would be alive today if not for the ambition of few Igbo majors hell bent on ruling the country. These are the people who inadvertently killed your uncle by their actions. Nzeogwu said "we were five in number” and here they are (all of them  Igbo).

1  Major Nzeogwu
2  Major Okafor
3  Major Ifeajuna
4  Major Onwuatuegwu
5  Major Chukwuka

I Had many Uncles that came back from the north before Biafra was declared having lost all their wealth. How can you possibly justify the killing of hundreds of thousands of easterners just because Five eastern soldiers led a coup which had at least two Yorubas as well ?

I am not justifying the killing of thousands of easterners but merely pointing out that if you have to blame anyone, blame your kinsfolk. You should blame the mostly Igbo coup plotters for the death of thousands of easterners. They started the tribalistic killing of military and political personnel opposed to their ambition of taking over the federal govt.

If Ironsi didn't have a hand in the coup, he definitely gave them his blessing. How come Major Emmanuel Ifeajuna who led the Lagos operation missed Ironsi? As a twist of fate Ironsi later wanted Ifeajuna captured or killed.  Stop re-writing history to suit your views. War is over, let it go bro.

sleek_p:

Don't be biased my friend, it only makes you come across like a tribalist. You said "Please read his account with a neutral mind and tell me how many holes you can find". How come you didn't expose the lie the distinguished Ejoor raised?

Sorry about your Uncle Smart but he would be alive today if not for the ambition of few Igbo majors hell bent on ruling the country. These are the people who inadvertently killed your uncle by their actions. Nzeogwu said "we were five in number” and here they are (all of them Igbo).[/b]1 Major Nzeogwu
2 Major Okafor
3 Major Ifeajuna
4 Major Onwuatuegwu
5 Major Chukwuka

I am not justifying the killing of thousands of easterners but merely pointing out that if you have to blame anyone, blame your kinsfolk. [b]You should blame the mostly Igbo coup plotters for the death of thousands of easterners. They started the tribalistic killing of military and political personnel opposed to their ambition of taking over the federal govt.

If Ironsi didn't have a hand in the coup, he definitely gave them his blessing. How come Major Emmanuel Ifeajuna who led the Lagos operation missed Ironsi? As a twist of fate Ironsi later wanted Ifeajuna captured or killed. Stop re-writing history to suit your views. War is over, let it go bro.

So, Nzeogwu told you they were 5. You still haven't told me about Ademoyegan--- or you're chosing to ignore that question to suit your theory that only Igbo boys planned and executed the first coup?

Just in case you did not know, there was a counter-coup targeted on Igbo officers, so you're telling us that the killing of over a million Igbos was justified by the action of 5 Igbo soldiers? If you honestly answered yes, then God Almighty will bring you disaster anytime people from your tribe did something wrong anywhere in the country.
No wonder, Nigeria is not going forward today--- people like you don't even know what it is to tell the truth.

I thought you believed Ejoor, so why don't you also believe what he said 'that during the coup Ironsi himself was in hiding, he knocked on his door, and Ironsi answered with a drawn pistols wandering where he-Ejoor belonged.
That's not the reasonable action of someone who knew about a coup before hand, is it?

sleek_p:

Don't be biased my friend, it only makes you come across like a tribalist. You said "Please read his account with a neutral mind and tell me how many holes you can find". How come you didn't expose the lie the distinguished Ejoor raised?

Sorry about your Uncle Smart but he would be alive today if not for the ambition of few Igbo majors hell bent on ruling the country. These are the people who inadvertently killed your uncle by their actions. Nzeogwu said "we were five in number” and here they are (all of them  Igbo).

1  Major Nzeogwu
2  Major Okafor
3  Major Ifeajuna
4  Major Onwuatuegwu
5  Major Chukwuka

I am not justifying the killing of thousands of easterners but merely pointing out that if you have to blame anyone, blame your kinsfolk. You should blame the mostly Igbo coup plotters for the death of thousands of easterners. They started the tribalistic killing of military and political personnel opposed to their ambition of taking over the federal govt.

If Ironsi didn't have a hand in the coup, he definitely gave them his blessing. How come Major Emmanuel Ifeajuna who led the Lagos operation missed Ironsi? As a twist of fate Ironsi later wanted Ifeajuna captured or killed.  Stop re-writing history to suit your views. War is over, let it go bro.

@sleek_p,

We've argued on the same side of this before!

That so many ignorant people subscribe to the fallacious logic of "guilt by association" does not mitigate the falsity of this most pedestrian form of reasoning.

It is this false logic that has been used against many groups in many times and in many places:

1. Two black men rape and kill a white woman - black men are rapists! Please blame those two black dudes for whatever happens to blacks in this neighborhood.
2. A handful of Jews betrayed the government of Rhineland - Jews are traitors! Please blame those Jews for whatever happens to the rest of the Jews.
3. Nineteen Arab/Muslim men bring down two buildings - Arab/Muslim men are terrorists! Please blame those guys for whatever happens to Muslims/Arabs.
4. A handful of Igbo officers execute a coup _{(with some non-Igbos)} - Igbos are rebels! Please blame those Igbo coup-plotters for whatever happens to the rest of the Igbos.
5. A Tutsi militia is suspected to have shot down the plane of the Hutu president - Tutsis are cockroaches! Please blame those rebels who allegedly killed our Hutu president for whatever we (Hutus) do to any Tutsi.

The common thread in all five of the above scenarios is the mundane illogic of "guilt by association".

RichyBlacK:


The common thread in all five of the above scenarios is the mundane illogic of "guilt by association".

But that's precisely what happened. Do you think the people who killed Igbos in the North were Professors and scholars. Nay, more like paranoid dummies

texazzpete:

But that's precisely what happened. Do you think the people who killed Igbos in the North were Professors and scholars. Nay, more like paranoid dummies

They killed Igbos en masse because 'they (igbos) killed their brothers' not just a few igbo people that they saw as a threat.

Nzeogwu and co did not kill thousands of hausas or yorubas, they only killed few people who needed to be out of the way for them to achieve their aim.

And no igbo person has come out before to support their actions.

texazzpete:

But that's precisely what happened. Do you think the people who killed Igbos in the North were Professors and scholars. Nay, more like paranoid dummies

I think you need to read up on the progroms. You will find that they were directed by Hausa elite. Major Katsina being just one of them; holding back the army from intervening, despite recieving forewarning from his superior commander and being told to deploy the army to safeguard the Igbos. Alex Madiebo's book reveals all.

Ibime:

I think you need to read up on the progroms. You will find that they were directed by Hausa elite. Major Katsina being just one of them; holding back the army from intervening, despite recieving forewarning from his superior commander and being told to deploy the army to safeguard the Igbos. Alex Madiebo's book reveals all.

Yeah, but the actual killing, the savage butchering is always done by the uninformed rabble.

But there's some sense in attributing part of the blame to those who upset the apple cart. When a group composed of Igbo offficers carry out a coup in which most of the victims were eminent Northerners, it's not too hard to see where hatred and paranoia bloomed in the minds of the northern rabble.

sleek_p:


Sorry about your Uncle Smart but he would be alive today if not for the ambition of few Igbo majors hell bent on ruling the country. These are the people who inadvertently killed your uncle by their actions. Nzeogwu said "we were five in number” and here they are (all of them  Igbo).

1  Major Nzeogwu
2  Major Okafor
3  Major Ifeajuna
4  Major Onwuatuegwu
5  Major Chukwuka

I am not justifying the killing of thousands of easterners but merely pointing out that if you have to blame anyone, blame your kinsfolk. You should blame the mostly Igbo coup plotters for the death of thousands of easterners. They started the tribalistic killing of military and political personnel opposed to their ambition of taking over the federal govt.

If Ironsi didn't have a hand in the coup, he definitely gave them his blessing. How come Major Emmanuel Ifeajuna who led the Lagos operation missed Ironsi? As a twist of fate Ironsi later wanted Ifeajuna captured or killed.  Stop re-writing history to suit your views. War is over, let it go bro.

If you really believed your theory of collective penalty for the action of few people according to you, then what stopped Babangida exterminating Gideon Orkar's village/town? Why did Obasanjo/Yar Adua sr stopped in wiping out Langtang people that plotted and executed Murtala Mohammed, where the likes of Bisalla, Dimka comes from?

Nobody touched Great Ogboru's village for his actions, planning to over thrown Babangida. It is at the highest epoch of idiocy to think that 5 people in the army planned a coup single handedly. Even when you reminded about Major Ademoyegan, who wrote his account in his book WHY WE STRUCK, you pretend not to hear or see.

Another big player in the coup was major Bittiyong, he is not Igbo but from the Middle belt, but those that want to justify this theory continue to hide the truth and a military coup and Igbo coup.
So whose coup was the subsequent ones?
What is funny in this sorry events, is the fact that anytime Nigerian wants to justify their genocide action against the Igbos, the likes of Nzeogwo who is from the present Delta state is regarded as an Igboman but if their is money to be shared or project to be sighted, that part of Igboland in Delta state are instantly denied their Igboness and they are no longer Igbos. funny!!

Eziachi:

What is funny in this sorry events, is the fact that anytime Nigerian wants to justify their genocide action against the Igbos, the likes of Nzeogwo who is from the present Delta state is regarded as an Igboman but if their is money to be shared or project to be sighted, that part of Igboland in Delta state are instantly denied their Igboness and they are no longer Igbos. funny!!

I've made this observation before. Apt!

Eziachi:

If you really believed your theory of collective penalty for the action of few people according to you, then what stopped Babangida exterminating Gideon Orkar's village/town? Why did Obasanjo/Yar Adua sr stopped in wiping out Langtang people that plotted and executed Murtala Mohammed, where the likes of Bisalla, Dimka comes from?

Nobody touched Great Ogboru's village for his actions, planning to over thrown Babangida. It is at the highest epoch of idiocy to think that 5 people in the army planned a coup single handedly. Even when you reminded about Major Ademoyegan, who wrote his account in his book WHY WE STRUCK, you pretend not to hear or see.

Another big player in the coup was major Bittiyong, he is not Igbo but from the Middle belt, but those that want to justify this theory continue to hide the truth and a military coup and Igbo coup.
So whose coup was the subsequent ones?
What is funny in this sorry events, is the fact that anytime Nigerian wants to justify their genocide action against the Igbos, the likes of Nzeogwo who is from the present Delta state is regarded as an Igboman but if their is money to be shared or project to be sighted, that part of Igboland in Delta state are instantly denied their Igboness and they are no longer Igbos. funny!!

Your Analogies are clearly not apt in this situation. There may have been many more people involved in the planning an execution of the coup, but the frontmen just happened to be Igbo. And the Northern military and political elite bore the brunt of the killings that night. It matters not if there was a token Yoruba man in their ranks; the general perception was that it was an Igbo coup designed to kill Northerners

Eziachi:


What is funny in this sorry events, is the fact that anytime Nigerian wants to justify their genocide action against the Igbos, the likes of Nzeogwo who is from the present Delta state is regarded as an Igboman but if their is money to be shared or project to be sighted, that part of Igboland in Delta state are instantly denied their Igboness and they are no longer Igbos. funny!!

Can you explain this in greater detail? I know from a friend of mine who hails from Asaba that it is even some of the core Igbos that consider them as not true Igbos.

Something to ponder for those who refused to accept the tribalistic nature of the 1966 coup plot.
Why are the major players in the coup largely Igbo and why was no notable Igbo leader killed.  Haba were the plotters unable to find the likes of Okpara, Azikiwe, Ironsi etc. To argue that the 1966 coup was not an Igbo coup or that the northerners should not have reacted flies in the face of rational thinking.

The north only reacted to what the Igbos did and as texazzpete asked "Do you think the people who killed Igbos in the North were Professors and scholars?"

What is funny in this sorry events, is the fact that anytime Nigerian wants to justify their genocide action against the Igbos, the likes of Nzeogwo who is from the present Delta state is regarded as an Igboman but if their is money to be shared or project to be sighted, that part of Igboland in Delta state are instantly denied their Igboness and they are no longer Igbos.

RichyBlacK:

I've made this observation before. Apt!

Why is Chief Ralph Uwechue from Delta State  (OHANEZE) Leader? To most non Ibos, the people of Anioma are Igbos.

sleek_p:

Something to ponder for those who refused to accept the tribalistic nature of the 1966 coup plot.
Why are the major players in the coup largely Igbo and why was no notable Igbo leader killed.  Haba were the plotters unable to find the likes of Okpara, Azikiwe, Ironsi etc. To argue that the 1966 coup was not an Igbo coup or that the northerners should not have reacted flies in the face of rational thinking.

texazzpete:

Your Analogies are clearly not apt in this situation. There may have been many more people involved in the planning an execution of the coup, but the frontmen just happened to be Igbo. And the Northern military and political elite bore the brunt of the killings that night. It matters not if there was a token Yoruba man in their ranks; the general perception was that it was an Igbo coup designed to kill Northerners.

Let us assume that there is even no non igbo among the coup plotters.
So you guys are now saying that retaliatory act of killing thousands of igbo civillians because of tribalistic act of few should be blamed on the coup plotters and not the perpetrators of the pogrom.

So IBB should have killed thousands of Orkar's kinsmen because Orkar wanted to usurp power from the Northerners by removing IBB.

We are talking about thousands of igbo officers and civillians  killed by fellow hausa soldiers and civillians. It is not 'uninformed rabble' as you guys are claiming this time. It was an organized mass killing.

texazzpete:



Can you explain this in greater detail? I know from a friend of mine who hails from Asaba that it is even some of the core Igbos that consider them as not true Igbos.

There is nothing much to explain that to tell you that there are such thing in Igboland as "CORE" Igbo. It a language invented by Nigerians to divide the Igbo people through divide and rule and to some extend it worked because not until recently the likes of Odili, Chibuike Amaechi and many other don't want to be called Igbo and also the likes of your so called friend too, that is why he believe the core Igbo nonsense.
Just as there are no core Yoruba, Hausa, Efik or Igala, there no core Igbo. Obasanjo and justice Irikife did all they could in 1978 boundary adjustment they did to destroy Igboland but we are doing our best to restify things, hence the present Ohaneze chairman and sec in the last administration is from Delta state. And one day with Anioma state, will be the last piece of the jig saw.

.

sleek_p:

Something to ponder for those who refused to accept the tribalistic nature of the 1966 coup plot.
Why are the major players in the coup largely Igbo and why was no notable Igbo leader killed.  Haba were the plotters unable to find the likes of Okpara, Azikiwe, Ironsi etc. To argue that the 1966 coup was not an Igbo coup or that the northerners should not have reacted flies in the face of rational thinking.

The north only reacted to what the Igbos did and as texazzpete asked "Do you think the people who killed Igbos in the North were Professors and scholars?"


Why is Chief Ralph Uwechue from Delta State  (OHANEZE) Leader? To most non Ibos, the people of Anioma are Igbos.

I see your point, however, what I'm focused on is the logic behind the actions of the Northern planners of the 1966 pogrom targeted at Igbos.

When Israel was killing Palestinian civilians with misguided missiles, the supporters of Israel applied the same logic you seem to now embrace: "the Hamas terrorists have targeted Israelis and it is only natural for Israel to kill Palestinians - women, children, men, it doesn't matter. 'You kill my people, I kill your people'".

Though this is what happened on the ground, the debate then was whether Israel was justified in it's actions, which seemed to target civilians, especially women and children. I recall you debated vigorously against Israel's disproportionate use of force (not the issue of interest here) and apparent targeting of civilians in Gaza (the issue of interest).

Some Igbo soldiers were at the forefront of the January 1966 coup. Northern soldiers backed by the federal government unleashed a pogrom targeted at Igbos, all Igbos, in the July 1966 coup. That it happened is not the contention. Of course we can't change the past. The question is, was it justified? Was the killing of thousands of innocent Igbo civilians and military men justified?

How can you cry for the civilians in Gaza but excuse the cold-blooded murder of Igbo civilians in Nigeria?

sleek_p:

The north only reacted to what the Igbos did and as texazzpete asked "Do you think the people who killed Igbos in the North were Professors and scholars?"

The Northern professors and scholars might not have been out there physically cutting off the head of Igbos, but there is preponderance of evidence that they energized, organized, and aided their fellow northern mob. At least most of them who were not directly involved stayed silent when they should have stoutly stopped the action of the lower officers and the mob.
No matter how we cut and slice this arguement, the fact that ethno-religious riots and killings continue in Nigeria today means that the issue has not been totally resolved. It was the Igbos yesterday, it may be Hausas, or Yorubas tomorrow.
The concept and technology has come to stay, especially when the culprits find it hard to accept guilt and move on.

The level of unjusified hatred against igbos on nairaland makes me feel kind of special.why weren't all of dimka's ethnic group massacred?

Not much new info in the interview. Ejoor gave a very detailed reconstruction of events that occurred in 1966 in his book "Reminiscences". He largely reconstructed those events in this interview, except this time, he added his own views as to why key actors acted as they did. He does make some sensational claims though (such as alleging that Ironsi wanted him dead).

Interesting to note that he also alleges that the officers who staged the Jan 1966 coup kicked open his hotel room door, and sprayed the bed with bullets (after he had changed rooms). Strange though that such a violent event is not mentioned at all in the extraordinarily detailed police report on the coup, which reports even mundane conversations the plotters had among themselves. Even more strange when you consider that one of the plotters (Gbulie) claimed that had their coup succeeded, they had earmarked Ejoor to head the army.

Looking forward to the rest of Ejoor's interview.

Warmest regards

Max

http://maxsiollun./