How sad that history is no longer taught in our schools.




https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YuG2KZfpYPg



Demonstration by minority non-Igbo groups served to bolster the federal position that the act of secession did not have the active consent of many non-Igbos. While much of the West's reporting focused on the victimisation of Igbos through pogroms directed at civilians (May 1966 and September/October 1966) and army personnel (July 1966) before the outbreak of war and during the war in Asaba (October 1967), a missing narrative was the suffering inflicted on (eastern) minorities such as the Efik, Ijaw, Ogoja and Ibibio. While they suffered at the hands of Northerners in the pre-war period, their communities endured a great deal of suffering at the hands of the Igbo-dominated Biafran Army. For instance, suspected collaboration with Federal Nigerians by members of the Ikun people who bordered Igboland, led to detentions, looting and raping by Biafran troops in Ikunland. Many males were rounded up 'disappeared', while others were shot to death. Many of the ethnic groups from Calabar, Ogoja and Rivers provinces were not in favour of secession because they had been agitating for years to have states of their own carved out of the old Eastern Region in the manner that the Mid-West Region was carved out of the Western State. Many minorities from these places received the attention of the Biafran security apparatus. They were subjected to surveillance and some were imprisoned and subjected to torture. They were also subject to frequent accusations of being saboteurs. And when the federal armies encroached further into Biafran-held territory, the fear of minority "fifth-columnists" led to wholesale evictions of people such as the Kalabaris from their homelands from where they were sent to Igbo towns and cities to live in refugee camps. Another example of this anti-minority sentiment was reflected by the activities of the Biafran Organisation of Freedom Fighters (BOFF), a paramilitary organisation created to protect communities, but which used operations to turn on minority communities. One of the most publicised war crimes committed by the Biafrans occurred when federal troops landed in Calabar in October 1967. About 167 civilians in detention were lined up and executed by Biafran soldiers. The Nigerian Consulate published details of this atrocity as an informational advertisement in the New York Times as part of the propaganda war with the Biafrans, whose propaganda machinery at home, and operating internationally under the auspices of the Geneva-based Markpress public relations firm, always had the edge over the federal side. For further information, read "The Forgotten Victims: Ethnic Minorities in the Nigeria-Biafra War, 1967-1970" by Arua Oko Omaka which was published in Volume 1, Issue 1 of the Journal of Retracing Africa in 2014.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QhbHCiuXh4c



Published on May 29, 2019
Film issued by Reuters on October 10th 1966 after communal violence in the northern Nigerian city of Kano.

Rioting across many parts of the Northern Region began during the late part of September and continued into October. The main targets of the rioters, who according to reports were aided by mutineer soldiers, were members of the Igbo ethnic group although other groups from Nigeria's Eastern region and other regions were affected.

Anti-Igbo sentiment in the north began to rise in the aftermath of the army mutiny of January 1966 during which many political and military figures from the Northern Region were murdered. Most of the conspirators had been of Igbo ethnicity.

Violence directed at Igbos flared in May when Major General J.T.U. Aguiyi-Ironsi, the military Head of State, issued a unification decree which altered Nigeria's federal system to a unitary one. And in July, a "counter-coup" orchestrated by northern military officers led to the slaying of up to 240 officers and men from the south, three-quarters of who were Igbo. General Ironsi, an Igbo, was among the dead.

At a press conference in Lagos on October 8th, Lt. Colonel Yakubu Gowon, the Christian officer from the "Middle Belt" of the Northern Region who had emerged as Ironsi's successor, announced that allegations of an army mutiny in Kano was being thoroughly investigated and that "the most appropriate action" would be taken after its completion.

The pogroms of September/October represented the high point of anti-Igbo violence prior to the commencement of the Nigerian Civil War after the declaration of secession by the Igbo-dominated Eastern Region led by Lt. Colonel Chukwuemeka Ojukwu.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_2MgGSRWRJM





Published on May 24, 2019
Friday, January 21st 1966.

Soundless footage first of the destruction wreaked on the home of Sir Ahmadu Bello, the Sardauna of Sokoto, by mutineers in the Nigerian Army and then of Major Chukwuma Nzeogwu and Major Hassan Katsina at the headquarters of the First Brigade of the Nigerian Army in the northern city of Kaduna.

The Sardauna:

The home of the Sardauna, a descendant of Usman Dan Fodio -the founder of the Sokoto Caliphate- and one of the most powerful and influential politicians in Nigeria, was attacked by soldiers seeking to overthrow the civilian government which they accused of mismanagement and corruption.

Led by Major Nzeogwu, they fired anti-tank guns into the building which blew off its roof and set it on fire. Nzeogwu would claim in an interview that the Sardauna was found hiding among some women.

He was then shot to death.

Major Nzeogwu:

The 29-year-old major, who announced the coup on radio on January 15th, took control of Kaduna and the Northern Region. But the coup failed elsewhere and so on January 19th, he pledged his loyalty to the head of the army, Major General J.T.U. Aguiyi-Ironsi.

Nzeogwu spoke to foreign pressmen at the headquarters of the army's First Brigade and was filmed surrounded by other soldiers including Major Hassan Katsina.

Nzeogwu would later give himself up and be placed in detention.

The mutiny would have great ramifications for the country. Most of the political and military figures who were murdered during its execution were from the Northern and Western regions, while the coup itself had been orchestrated mainly by ethnic Igbos such as Major Nzeogwu. In the following months would develop a climate of mistrust in the army and fears in the wider population that the coup had been a plot designed to establish the political hegemony of Igbos.

A second mutiny in July, which was orchestrated by Northern soldiers led to mass assassinations of soldiers from the Eastern region, while anti-Igbo pogroms were launched in May (following the promulgation by Ironsi of a decree changing Nigeria from a federation to a unitary state) and in the latter part of September and early October.

The concatenation of violence would culminate in a civil war fought from July 1967 to January 1970 between federal Nigeria and the secessionist state of Biafra which was created out of the Igbo-dominated Eastern Region of Nigeria.

Source of footage: Reuters News.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vy5MyjJqL88




Published on May 29, 2019
Reuters footage released on October 3rd 1966 depicting scenes after the carnage caused by inter-communal violence in parts of the country.

Most of the violence occurred in the cities and towns of the Northern Region where Muslim Hausas targeted Christian Igbos. But anti-Hausa violence was also reported in the Eastern Region.

The scenes in the footage were shot in the northern city of Kano, the eastern city of Enugu and the federal capital city of Lagos.

Contemporary reports claimed that "at least a thousand" had died in the north. In Kano, it was reported that army units mutinied and massacred Igbos at the airport and that "at least 300 died in the slaughter which went on to the streets." There were retaliatory massacres in the Eastern Region where 25 Hausa residents were killed.

A grim exchange of refugees ensued.

Northerners based in the east were fleeing north, while southerners in the north of predominantly Igbo ethnicity were fleeing south to cities such as Enugu, where hospitals were filling up with the injured and Lagos.

Source: Reuters News Archive.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ULSC8ZkPyz8



Published on May 23, 2019
Soundless news footage showing the aftermath of two bomb explosions which had occurred in Lagos, then the capital city of Nigeria, on Sunday, September 11th.

The Nigerian Police identified a man who died in a house in Lagos as Mr. E.O.D. Agu, a senior lecturer in mining from Enugu, the capital city of the federation's Eastern Region.

The inquiry revealed that Agu had blown himself up while fiddling with a bomb that he had planted in a house as delegates were gathering in the city for constitutional talks about Nigeria's future governance.

A bomb had earlier caused slight damage to the luxury Federal Palace Hotel in Victoria Island. Police said that it was planted by the same person and that the bombs used in the two explosions were similar to the ones used to blow up a bridge at the town of Ore the previous month.

Source: Reuters News.

Note:

The background to these incidents was the political crisis which was tearing Nigeria apart. Simmering ethnic tensions had been brought to the surface after two army mutinies; the first in January and the second in July, as well as by the decision of a later assassinated military ruler to declare Nigeria to be a unitary state in May.

The first mutiny, which was led in the main by middle-ranking officers of ethnic Igbo origin, resulted in the assassinations of many army officers and politicians from the North and West of the country. A Northern-led coup in July targeted soldiers from the preponderantly Igbo Eastern Region who were murdered en masse.

Apart from military and political casualties, communal violence directed at Igbos occurred in May and would recur at the end of September and the beginning of October.

The attempt to foment terror in Lagos by Agu, an Igboman, almost certainly had a revenge motive. It was also a violent manifestation of the desire by many Igbos to separate themselves from Nigeria, an event that would occur the following year in May with the declaration of Biafra.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JXap54ltMcY




Published on May 23, 2019
Soundless footage of the aftermath of a bomb attack carried out on Sunday, July 2nd 1967 by a saboteur sympathetic to the cause of Biafra, the secessionist state made up of the territory of Nigeria's former Eastern Region.

It killed four and injured eleven.

The bomb was apparently originally intended to be detonated at police headquarters. A man drove a car packed with explosives to the entrance of the police establishment but was turned back when he could not prove his identity. He then reversed the vehicle into a petrol filling station across the road and fled just before it exploded.

An adjacent house was destroyed, and four of its occupants including two children were killed. Eleven other critically wounded people were taken to the local hospital. The explosion also wrecked the filling station and ripped windows out of the five-storey police building.

Soon after, a second explosion ripped through a garage in a Lagosian suburb and injured three.

Source: Reuters News.

Biafra armies committed many atrocities in Midwest, they kill the men and rape the women.

That's why I laugh when ipob include southern minorities in Biafra when we all know their agenda, who are they fooling? A landlock small country with south south

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hzXxbq-WUUY



Published on Oct 3, 2018
ITN news reporter Sandy Gall enters the newly declared secessionist state of Biafra at the time of the federal push towards the cities of Nsukka and Enugu. Colonel Odumegwu Ojukwu, the leader of Biafra is filmed giving a press conference on the situation.

The date stamp of the footage is July 19th 1967.

Source: Getty Images.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=thfd2GaP3rc


Published on May 29, 2019
Wednesday, October 12th 1966.

Lagos, the then capital city of Nigeria was beginning to experience turmoil as an exodus of non-indigenes intensified following the inter-communal violence that had flared in the Northern Region and some parts of the Eastern Region.

Bus depots were frenetic with activity as many Igbos headed for their home region in the east. Among those who left were many skilled persons employed in the public sector as well as those who made a living from trading. Many Igbo shopkeepers sold their stock at greatly reduced prices.

The troubles in Nigeria led to a range of economic and social problems, one of which was a shortage of oil in the north.

Although Lagos was largely spared the inter-communal violence that had wracked the north, there were some incidents reported such as the burning down of the Lagos City College owned by Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe, Nigeria's first president who was Igbo. The arsonist was a student who claimed that the teachers had deserted the college after tuition fees had been paid.

The traditional ruler of Lagos, Oba Adeyinka Oyekan, began a six day tour of Lagos, holding non-political public rallies where he sought to allay inter-communal fears.

Source: Reuters News Archive.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ri65dpvNhv0



Published on May 29, 2019
Footage released by Reuters on June 3rd 1967, days after the declaration of secession by the military governor of the Eastern Region, Lt. Colonel Chukwuemeka Ojukwu.

The scenes show Ojukwu at a press conference, as well as the Niger Bridge blocked by tractors and guarded by soldiers of the Biafran Army who are allowing only Igbo refugees to cross it.

Source: Reuters News Archive.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fhbzl39G8fI




Published on May 14, 2019
ITN news reporter Sandy Gall reporting on the training of a civil defence force for the newly declared state of Biafra, the former Eastern Region of Nigeria, in Enugu.

The date stamp of the footage is July 20th 1967.

Creator: ITN News.

Source: Getty Images.

Binikingdowm:
Biafra armies committed many atrocities in Midwest, they kill the men and rape the women.

That's why I laugh when ipob include southern minorities in Biafra when we all know their agenda, who are they fooling? A landlock small country with south south

Ibos by nature are very domineering, this was what led to the chaos before and during the civil. Again it seems history will repeat itself if and when Biafran secession is achieved. See what is playing out among IPOB, Nnamdi Kanu is revered as supreme leader by his Ibos followers and not by other ethnic tribes in south-east and South-south. You can imagine the chaos this will bring if and when Biafra is realised. The reason for this Forum is to educate Nigerians that our problems as a Nation started not just today but from the conception of the country known as Nigeria. The Ibos and Hausas-Fulanis are the two major tribes fomenting these problems, as long as these two play tribal and religious politics Nigeria will remain a failed state with never ending troubles.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oEYj8vnR_wk







Published on May 18, 2019
Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe, the first president of Nigeria appeals to the Igbo people, most of who make up the population of the secessionist state of Biafra, to turn away from the leaders of Biafra who have "hoodwinked" them into supporting an enterprise that has brought them widespread suffering. He also challenged the Biafran Head of State, Odumegwu Ojukwu, a former Lt. Colonel in the Nigerian Army, to have "second thoughts" lest he leave the legacy of having been a "political imposter and petty tyrant."

Azikiwe spoke in the Nigerian High Commission in London, outside of which demonstrators for and against him were congregated.

Transcript:

On Friday, September 5, 1969, I alighted at the Lagos Airport at 2PM and I spent the next 21 days visiting the capitals of the 12 states of Nigeria including four university towns and certain parts of the liberated areas of former eastern Nigeria. My visit has made it clear to me that all of us have now realised the mistakes we made in the past by fighting one another. There is a general feeling, which is widespread that all are now determined to turn a new leaf and help repair the damage we have inflicted on ourselves, not only that, there is now a deep-seated desire to have an effective central government which will hold the federation intact so that in the future no component of it will be in a position to challenge the fatherland to a mortal combat...The world has been shocked that an enterprising people, like the Igbo, have been tongue-tied and emasculated, that they have allowed tyrants to blindfold and hoodwink them so that in a war alleged to be fought for their survival, more than 1.5 million children of their country had died of starvation and disease. It sickens me to see the advertisement of skeletal Biafran babies on the pages of the newspapers and on the TV screens, begging for charity and relief. It hurts my pride as a human being...This is the challenge that his people offer to General Ojukwu: I wish he would have second thoughts and inscribe his name in contemporary world history a brave soldier and beloved leader, instead of disfiguring the pages of Nigerian history as another political impostor and petty tyrant.

Source: Reuters News.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=THK9UI7JsME



Monday, March 14th 1967. Footage of an interview with John Anyogu, the Bishop of Enugu, the capital city of Nigeria's Eastern Region. In the interview, Bishop Anyogu cautioned against the use of further violence during the crisis which has gripped the country. By this time, the Eastern region had withdrawn from virtually all areas of the federation short of declaring its secession. Also, scenes of students in Enugu demonstrating in support of Lt. Colonel Chukwuemeka Ojukwu, the military governor of the Eastern region, and against Lt. Colonel Yakubu Gowon, the leader of the federation who emerged as head of state and supreme commander after the overthrow of Maj. Gen. J.T.U. Aguiyi-Ironsi in July 1966. Source: Reuters News Archives.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vZ9v8e9W7lY


Saturday, October 7th 1967. Soundless footage of the aftermath of the downing of a Biafran aeroplane on a bombing mission over Lagos, three months after the official start of the Nigerian Civil War. Reuters News Report on the incident: "Federal Nigerian anti-aircraft fire shot down an aircraft over Lagos today (Saturday) while it was on a bombing mission for the breakaway eastern region of Biafra. The aircraft dropped several bombs and damaged two buildings before it was shot down. Eight crew members -- four Africans and four whites -- were killed. The mangled bodies of the dead crew members were scattered over a wide area. The white men included at least one mercenary, but it was not certain whether any of the others were Nigerian, or where the aircraft had flown from. One bomb dropped from the aircraft destroyed a shop at the western end of Lagos Island and another hit an office building. Two Nigerians on the ground were taken to hospital with minor injuries. Debris from the exploding aircraft was scattered over several hundred yards (metres) but the main wreckage splashed into Lagos Lagoon. It was the second air raid against Lagos since the civil war between federal Nigeria and secessionist Biafra began early in July." Source: Reuters News Archive. Note: Although some have claimed that the Fokker F-27 used in the bombing raid blew up because of a mishap inside the aircraft related to the handling of the bombs which were dropped manually by some of the crew, the official explanation of a federal hit still holds sway. https://fearoflanding.com/rudy/more-f... The plane was brought down by Nigerian anti-aircraft fire from the ground.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lNKhFoBXwuA

Thursday, December 13th 1979. Chief Obafemi Awolowo, the leader of the Unity Party of Nigeria (UPN), states at the party's convention at the Eko Hotel, Lagos, that the presidential election which he lost to Alhaji Shehu Shagari, was rigged. Awolowo claimed that the NPN achieved the feat with the connivance of FEDECO, Nigeria's Federal Electoral Commission and the judiciary. He spoke before an audience of 2000 delegates from all nineteen states of the federation. The Unity Party was one of five political groups which entered the election contest Transcript of Chief Awolowo's remarks: "It is clear that the NPN has acceded to power by fouling the electoral process. We have seen that, in fouling the process, the NPN was not alone - indeed by itself alone there was very little the NPN could do which would have made any noticeable impact. But the FEDECO and practically all the Organs of Government were involved in the foul game. It stands to reason that, having fouled the game once to advantage and with impunity, the NPN would want to try it again to perpetuate itself in office as its National Chairman has recently given the whole world to understand. In this respect, it would be remembered that some of those who played a prominent role in the blatant, colossal and widespread rigging of elections in 1965 are today among those who are equally prominent in the leadership of the NPN, and in the rigging of the last elections. WE are all witnesses to the dire and tragic consequences of the fraudulent acts of 1965 including the long, painful and distressing abeyance of democracy and the rule of law." Source: Reuters News.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b0sBa45cVGU





Saturday, September 9th 1967.

Footage of a march from London's Hyde Park to the American Embassy in Grovesnor Square by Biafran separatists. The event was billed as a "March of Thanks" to the American government for its apparent stance of neutrality in a conflict in which Federal Nigeria garnered the support of Britain and the Soviet Umion.

Source: Reuters News Archive.

Note:

1. The Biafran secessionists hopes of ultimately securing full American backing never came to fruition.

2. President Lyndon Johnson, although disturbed by the images of starvation, confined himself to authorizing humanitarian relief. Johnson is quoted as telling a senior official of the U.S. State Department to "Just get those nigger babies off my TV set.”

3. Hopes were raised the following year when the Republican candidate for the presidency, Richard Nixon, claimed that "genocide" was occurring. In a statement issued in September 1968 entitled “Nixon’s Call for American Action on Biafra,” Nixon demanded that the United States take a leading role in preventing what he described as “the destruction of an entire people"; declaring also that “While America is not the world’s policeman, let us at least act as the world’s conscience in this matter of life and death for millions.” However, once in office, pressing foreign policy issues such as the Vietnam War and the stance of America's British ally in supporting Nigeria meant that Nixon did not spearhead a proactive American government effort aimed at helping Biafra.