spearman:
New York Times: The Biafran Minorities
It had been Biafra's non‐Ibo minority that suffered most.

Several things must not go unnoticed by a world horrified at the Nigerian tragedy and baffled by its complexities. At the showdown, Colonel Effiong, one of the few non‐Ibos in Biafra's top echelon, was left to cope with the collapse and preside over the liquidation of the secessionist effort. Nor should the world overlook that part of Colonel Effiong's surrender broadcast that said: “Our people are disillusioned and those elements of the old regime that made negotiations and reconciliation impossible have removed themselves voluntarily from our midst.”

The fact is that some Biafran leaders had long desired to negotiate for some form of Nigerian reunification under Organization of African Unity auspices rather than persevere with a hopeless secessionist struggle at appalling human cost. But these men never prevailed over the Ibo hawks who always had their way with General Ojukwu and now, judging from Colonel Effiong's remark, have presumably fled abroad with him.

Another fact which General Ojukwu inadvertently dramatized in leaving the final responsibility on Col nel Effiong is that at least until the last stages of the thirty‐month war it had been Biafra's non‐Ibo minority that suffered most. The attitude of these five million—forty per cent of Biafra's original population —toward secession was always questionable.

Many of them never wanted an independent Biafra, having resented Ibo domination in Nigeria's former Eastern Region for many years. Some of the minorities suffered savage reprisals at Ibo hands for refusing to leave their homes and accompany the retreating Biafran troops. They made up the vast majority in Biafra's refugee camps as the secessionist enclave was reduced to the Ibo heartland. It may seem unkind to recall these things at the moment of Biafra's collapse after a tremendous struggle against overwhelming odds. But the record of Biafra's agony must be kept straight even at a time when the world's attention is rightly concentrated on alleviating the suffering and restoring peace.

https://www.nytimes.com/1970/01/17/archives/the-biafran-minorities.html

Deep insights and facts...

Cc: Sukkot

Ikwerre people are originally from Benin - Elder explains


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-14nPOrfwPA