₦airaland Forum

Xscape1993:
Nonsense S.P...

We are practicing a democracy .


As long as Una still dey support IPOB, no interference from the FG.

christejames:
That's my President and President of other sane Nigerians








Not the democratic coup plotter in Aso Rock!

You meant Biafran parallel eGovt

Obi should be challenging Ekpa for supremacy over eBiafra

Hotfreeze:
Immediately Ojukwu declared Biafra, his first point of call was to go rob the CBN regional branch in the East and steal Naira notes.
That's why the change finished Ojukwu.

If them born you well, deny that Ojukwu robbed the bank. I will use evidence to disgrace you here.

Ojukwu also had his retreating orc army raid the central bank branch at Benin from where the equivalent of $5.6million dollars which in today's money is roughly over $60 million was stolen.

Rape, mass murders of hapless civilians ,torture and cannibalism were all the legacies of the Biafran rogue army .

Ngozi123:
Your mama is an olosho who should have swallowed you .

You keep going round in circles. First you claim there are no Igbos in the South-South then you admit that there are. Now, you're back to the 'no Igbos in South-South' rhetoric.

Seeing as you've brought up the old Midwestern region... Where was Chuwkuma Nzeogwu from?

Ohu, just keep your Biafra to your five leprous states.

Thanks

In a pattern of behavior that can only be described as self-destructive, the "liberation" force went molesting, raping, kidnapping, torturing, detaining and even killing local figures whose support they badly needed (14, 17). For example, Mr. J. O Adeola (Commissioner of Police), Mr. Olu Akpata (Permanent Secretary), Mr. Sam Umweni (of Radio Nigeria, Benin) and Mr. J Imoukhuede (Head of the civil service), were abducted from Benin and taken back to Biafra. They remained in prison (without trial) until the end of the war (17). In his memoirs, Ademoyega acknowledges: "The 18th battalion stationed in that port (Warri) was a ragged, ill-equipped and ill-controlled unit. Reports of their lawlessness in town had been scandalous." Such actions (among others) did not endear them to the people they came to liberate from "the north". Ademoyega summarized it thus: "Biafran entry into the Midwest was seen by the people, especially the non-Ibos of the State, as an act of foreign aggression." (9)

The decision to occupy and then terrorize a proud and ancient cultural region should not have been made so lightly (18).

In a pattern of behavior that can only be described as self-destructive, the "liberation" force went molesting, raping, kidnapping, torturing, detaining and even killing local figures whose support they badly needed (14, 17). For example, Mr. J. O Adeola (Commissioner of Police), Mr. Olu Akpata (Permanent Secretary), Mr. Sam Umweni (of Radio Nigeria, Benin) and Mr. J Imoukhuede (Head of the civil service), were abducted from Benin and taken back to Biafra. They remained in prison (without trial) until the end of the war (17). In his memoirs, Ademoyega acknowledges: "The 18th battalion stationed in that port (Warri) was a ragged, ill-equipped and ill-controlled unit. Reports of their lawlessness in town had been scandalous." Such actions (among others) did not endear them to the people they came to liberate from "the north". Ademoyega summarized it thus: "Biafran entry into the Midwest was seen by the people, especially the non-Ibos of the State, as an act of foreign aggression." (9)

The decision to occupy and then terrorize a proud and ancient cultural region should not have been made so lightly (18).

Ngozi123:
But you claimed that there were no Igbos in the South-South?

Olosho , there are no Ibo in SS.

You will not repeat the foolishness of decieving Ibos in SS to betray their neighbours like you did in old Midwestern region.

Heebo women are meant strictly for recreational purposes only.

BOYS2MEN:
may I seize to breath ,anyday I place that greenish algae of a soup over my almighty OFE EGUSI & OFE OHA....

I know nah.

Eating human flesh is your thing.

Ngozi123:
If you don't know that there are Igbos in the South-South then you must not really be from the South-South. Go and study your country's geography before typing nonsense.

Abeg point the Ibo in SS that are supporting your revamped madness ?

Ngozi123:
Can you tell the difference between an Oyigbo man and an Ngwa man?

Answer as honestly as possible please.

I believe Wike even proposed that Oyigbo be excercised from Rivers mainly on it being mainly Ibo .

So don't think the average Rivers man wants anything Ibo in his midst.

SalamRushdie:
This will only increase the cost of Governance and not lead to any productivity per se ...The Minister already has HODs for each these regions and if he doesn't he can can appoint them ..You people are just looking for the name minister and not a out getting any job done this is is how we go into this overbloated govt size ..We have not even recovered from the minister of state nonsense and now y'all want 6 ministers per ministry 😅😅😅😅

Idiot, this portfolios will replace those useless minister of states and other moribund ministries that should be abolished.

Okoro will not however like anything that will promote regionalism and state fiscal autonomy so I am not surprised by your comment and opposition.

Parasite.

Shal0mmy:
yeoruba idiat

Okoro pig , just know your boundaries.

Your dot nation will soon be granted .

Of the soldiers in the 11th and 19th battalions, former Major ("Lt. Col." Ademoyega wrote: "…at the slightest prompting, they would desert the front, skip the battalion headquarters and make their way straight to Benin, to sleep in one of the school dormitories or terrorize civilians in town."


So there you have it.

An orc band of barbarian cowards who knew only how to terrorise civilians while absconding from a fight.

Shal0mmy:
mumu yoruba idiot

I feel your pain.

Shal0mmy:
keep on wailing.
Son of a thousand father.
Bastard.
I am sure ur fatherS where killed trying to chuk mouth in biafra matter.
same fate awaits u.
coward

Lolz.

At no attempt has the olosho baby factory product denied the invasion of Midwest region nor defended it

You think anti Igbo sentiments among Bendelites sprung from nowhere ?

I say continue using Microsoft paint to drag SS into your Biafra .

You don't even know your renewed stupidity is only fueling more anti Igbo sentiments.

Okoro , ride on!

Shal0mmy:
Mumu yoruba man dey wail ontop SS matter.
hahahaha.
Now who is the parasite?
Yeoruba idiot, face the fulanis raping ur mothers.

The funniest thing is that you are using my Yoruba Muslim meme.

Okoro, this thread is meant to educate the good people of the Niger Delta on the atrocities carried out by your orcs.

Better face your cursed cannibal enclave and leave SS out of your land grabbing.

BOYS2MEN:
You mean 100 naira EWEDU with 1000 naira pepper?

Why are the fingers considered a delicacy among you cannibals ?

You that your lineage is known for cannibalism are complaining about other people's natural and healthy foods?

Shal0mmy:
it's paining u just because we embraced our brothers and rejected u skull miners?

Go and die.

Fool , continue to dey assume false unity with SS.


The events of the civil war and Biafran artrocities are very much alive among the SS people.

Maybe your Okoro cousins in Delta north are still bent on repeating their foolishness but don't for one second think SS is Biafra in any way or guise.

Endgame

Major Albert Nwazu Okonkwo's title as Military Administrator of the Midwest region was changed to 'Governor' of the "autonomous, independent and sovereign republic of Benin" on Sept 19, 1967. This proved to be the shortest lived republic in history because less than 24 hours later, at 6 p.m. on Sept 20, 1967 Benin City was recaptured by troops of the second division, Nigerian Army. At the head of these troops were Lt. Col. Sam Ogbemudia (in charge of support weapons), Major Adeniran (CO, leading battalion) alongside Major Ike Nwachukwu, under Lt. Col. Alani Akinrinade (CO, 6th brigade), under the overall command of Col. Murtala Mohammed. [Adeniran was no stranger to Benin, having served in the mutinous Ibadan based 4th battalion. In the rumpus after July 29, 1966, a unit from that battalion had raided the Benin prison and abducted some January 15 coup detainees.]

The Benin operation was conducted in a giant pincer movement with motorized infantry and infantry on foot. They were supported by 81mm Mortar and 105mm medium artillery along with Ferret, Fox and Saladin Scout Cars. The main assault group came down from the north through Auchi and Ehor via Ikpoba Hill. This bottle-necked the retreating Biafrans, eager to avoid being trapped against an onslaught from the other group coming from the West through Ore, even as Col. Adekunle's feared 3rd division was simultaneously landing at Warri in the south.

The 2nd division advance toward Benin from Ore in the west had been delayed by the destruction of the Oluwa bridge by retreating elements of the Biafran 12th battalion. Thus, the final assault on Benin was undertaken along three flanks that sprung from Ehor, 56 kilometers north of the city. The right flank swung around westwards through Uhiere to Oluku junction where the Owo-Benin and Ore-Benin roads intersect. The central flank made a direct dash for Benin along the main Auchi-Benin road. The left flank cut through eastwards to Ugonoba (on the Benin-Agbor road) via Eguaholor. They were programmed to then swing westwards to link up with the central flank at Ikpoba Hill for the final push into Benin.

Anticipating the arrival of federal troops and the possibility of street fighting, many civilians in the city had fled to the villages . The 101st HQ had itself been withdrawn to Agbor two days before, on September 18th just as Banjo was being recalled to Enugu ostensibly to assume the position of Chief of Defence Staff. In reality, he and Ojukwu were playing out the last phase of their many cat and mouse games. The decision to move the Liberation Army HQ to Agbor, understandably made in the light of a brutally honest assessment of the military situation, became a major political controversy in Biafra. Banjo (and Ademoyega) were later accused of "abandoning Benin", yielding 40 miles of frontline to the enemy without a fight! On arrival in Benin, federal troops found that the Treasury and Central Bank had been looted of approximately $5.6 million allegedly by retreating Biafran troops.

Other than mop-up operations in small pockets (such as the fierce gun-battle at the Benin Prison) there was no major fighting in Benin once federal troops arrived.

Elements of the Third Marine Division assisted the Second Division in clearing the Delta region from a springboard stretching from South point (Forcados), through Escravos to North point. In an enveloping move designed to cutoff escape and reinforcement routes from Benin to Sapele to Amukpe to Agbor to Asaba, Adekunle (in coordination with Mohammed) took the two bridges along the Benin-Sapele road over the Ethiope River. While this did not prevent escape of stragglers through Sakpoba via Urhonigbe to Agbor, it isolated the Biafran 18th battalion from its divisional headquarters in Benin which had only just been hurriedly moved eastwards to Agbor. Warri, Sapele and Ughelli fell easily.

Those Biafran troops who found themselves cut off, simply abandoned their uniforms and weapons and merged imperceptibly into the rural civilian population, waiting for a chance to escape eastwards.

From a tactical perspective, based not only on terrain, but also the lack of sophistication of the hurriedly trained fighting troops, both sides relied heavily on basic infantry "fire and movement" methods along main roads rather than jungle paths for their advance. At other times, though, the 2nd division employed "Hook" tactics in dense forest maneuvers . Indeed, the Biafran Chief of Staff wandered into the cross hairs of one such ambush, barely escaping alive. Artillery and Mortar support was liberal, using "predicted shoot" techniques. As was the trademark of other Nigerian divisions, fire-discipline was not a priority. Ammunition was expended in great quantities.

Having sprung from Auchi, the attack along three axes out of Ehor used by Mohammed to retake Benin in 1967 was reminiscent of that taken by British Admiral Rawson in 1897. At that time, however, the "punitive" force sprung from Forcados and sailed up the Benin River to Ugharegin (Ogharegi), near Sapele. The assault on Benin was then conducted from the south along three converging axes. The main assault was via Ologbo creek (from Ologbo), with subsidiary assaults via the Jamieson river (from Sakpoba), and Ughoton creek (from Gele Gele).

Shal0mmy:
who is now the attachee parasite?

Omo yeoruba, there is no 12 razor blade faced animal in SS.

Okoro face your SE.


Why has it been only you bastards that have been against SS region since it's inception ?

Can you explain why the very mention of SS drives you mad ?

Parasitic cannibals

Stone03:
You didn't mention that fulanis converted your natural resources to theirs, forcing your youths to live by illegal bunckery and militancy which have claimed their lives more than any civil war.
Or are you afraid of your slave masters?

The Resistance

According to an Army manual, "a resistance movement is the organized element of a disaffected population, which resists a government or occupying power with means varying from passive to violently active. Resistance movements begin to form when dissatisfaction occurs among strongly motivated individuals who cannot further their cause by peaceful and legal means".

Not much has been written about the popular resistance. In their memoirs, Ademoyega and Ejoor make passing reference to it. Much of what we know comes from the written account of Ogbemudia corroborated by oral testimony. For some reason, Alexander Madiebo saw things differently from his position as Commander of the Biafran Army in Enugu, even claiming in his narrative that "Benin was taken early that morning without a single loss of life, amidst frantic jubilation by the entire local population." . One can only wonder about which population he was referring, and the veracity of intelligence reports reaching the East.

Many resistance groups may have operated in the Midwest, but one in particular was organized and very effective. This group was the one formed by Chief Michael A. Ojomo in Benin on August 18th. According to Ogbemudia, "….In a short time, recruitment and training started, and volunteers came in hundreds. Soon afterwards, an effective system of hit and runs was in operation…..By 26th of August, we had assembled a reliable force of about 600 men and 180 women……"

Supportive citizens, who were too old for action, donated their single and double-barrel cartridge guns. Recruits performed armed and armless combat, isolating and capturing Biafran sentries. Night raiders spat salt into the eyes of soldiers, while attractive girls distracted them with sex, obtained intelligence, and even stole their weapons. In a manner reminiscent of the Vietcong in Vietnam, corpses of freedom fighters were recovered at great peril for burial, frustrating the Biafran units who had just engaged them in firefights. In the Siluko area, 50 Biafran soldiers (about half of a company) were drowned by a group of "Ijaw, Urhobo and Itsekiri swimmers" who lost 16 men in the fight

At the behest of the resistance, female cooks put all kinds of things in the meals of the Biafran soldiers. Supported by threatening letters written to harass the Biafran command, rumors spread about the risk of poisoning by locals. It is speculated that even the Administrator, Major Okonkwo, stayed away from food cooked by his official cooks, particularly if they were non-Ibo.

But all did not go well indefinitely. Undercover agents were infiltrated into the group and counter-insurgency raids on villages became more frequent and ruthless. Nine of the girls were killed, some in suspicious circumstances. Faced with threats of severe reprisals, extreme caution among the local population became the watchword.

However, by this time, they were encouraged by news of the progress of the federal army. After reorienting the movement to undertake psychological and deception missions in support of the theater commander, Major Ogbemudia himself eventually disengaged from guerrilla warfare activities to return to Army HQ in Lagos. From there, he joined the hastily organized Second Infantry Division of the Nigerian Army making its way to Benin City .

According to Ejoor, similar activities took place in the Delta. Small groups of Biafran soldiers looking for local Hausa communities in the riverine areas, were drowned by local Urhobo swimmers in the treacherous currents of the Ethiope River.

[Oral folk tales claim that even native doctors joined the resistance, using spells and 'juju' to cause unusual ailments among Biafran troops such as massive testicles, clearly an impediment to mobility.

So any one still thinking these Igbos were hapless victims should read every post here .

The Resistance

According to an Army manual, "a resistance movement is the organized element of a disaffected population, which resists a government or occupying power with means varying from passive to violently active. Resistance movements begin to form when dissatisfaction occurs among strongly motivated individuals who cannot further their cause by peaceful and legal means".

Not much has been written about the popular resistance. In their memoirs, Ademoyega and Ejoor make passing reference to it. Much of what we know comes from the written account of Ogbemudia corroborated by oral testimony. For some reason, Alexander Madiebo saw things differently from his position as Commander of the Biafran Army in Enugu, even claiming in his narrative that "Benin was taken early that morning without a single loss of life, amidst frantic jubilation by the entire local population." . One can only wonder about which population he was referring, and the veracity of intelligence reports reaching the East.

Many resistance groups may have operated in the Midwest, but one in particular was organized and very effective. This group was the one formed by Chief Michael A. Ojomo in Benin on August 18th. According to Ogbemudia, "….In a short time, recruitment and training started, and volunteers came in hundreds. Soon afterwards, an effective system of hit and runs was in operation…..By 26th of August, we had assembled a reliable force of about 600 men and 180 women……"

Supportive citizens, who were too old for action, donated their single and double-barrel cartridge guns. Recruits performed armed and armless combat, isolating and capturing Biafran sentries. Night raiders spat salt into the eyes of soldiers, while attractive girls distracted them with sex, obtained intelligence, and even stole their weapons. In a manner reminiscent of the Vietcong in Vietnam, corpses of freedom fighters were recovered at great peril for burial, frustrating the Biafran units who had just engaged them in firefights. In the Siluko area, 50 Biafran soldiers (about half of a company) were drowned by a group of "Ijaw, Urhobo and Itsekiri swimmers" who lost 16 men in the fight

At the behest of the resistance, female cooks put all kinds of things in the meals of the Biafran soldiers. Supported by threatening letters written to harass the Biafran command, rumors spread about the risk of poisoning by locals. It is speculated that even the Administrator, Major Okonkwo, stayed away from food cooked by his official cooks, particularly if they were non-Ibo.

But all did not go well indefinitely. Undercover agents were infiltrated into the group and counter-insurgency raids on villages became more frequent and ruthless. Nine of the girls were killed, some in suspicious circumstances. Faced with threats of severe reprisals, extreme caution among the local population became the watchword.

However, by this time, they were encouraged by news of the progress of the federal army. After reorienting the movement to undertake psychological and deception missions in support of the theater commander, Major Ogbemudia himself eventually disengaged from guerrilla warfare activities to return to Army HQ in Lagos. From there, he joined the hastily organized Second Infantry Division of the Nigerian Army making its way to Benin City .

According to Ejoor, similar activities took place in the Delta. Small groups of Biafran soldiers looking for local Hausa communities in the riverine areas, were drowned by local Urhobo swimmers in the treacherous currents of the Ethiope River.

[Oral folk tales claim that even native doctors joined the resistance, using spells and 'juju' to cause unusual ailments among Biafran troops such as massive testicles, clearly an impediment to mobility.

Ttalk:
The guy's idea is a brilliant one, and we need to look at new ways of doing things.

The minister could be called the regional coordinating minister for SS, SW, NC, NE SE and NW.

Coordinating regional development will bring about positive competition and would make every region upright and promote the comparative advantage of each region.

Nigeria states are too poor that their resources are meagre to embark on critical development project that could transform their states hence the need for regional developmental integration.

There could be a way to go about it without negating the constitution if the president explores his executive powers

It will also serve to fill the vacuum of discarded ministries for the political class to fill in.

THE OCCUPATION

With the announcement of Major Okonkwo's appointment as Military Administrator, Midwest, came the imposition of a dusk to dawn curfew and other measures consistent with martial law. Only individuals with passes could move freely at night. The administrative machinery of the civil service was manipulated to empower those who supported the invasion (or were trusted) rather than the traditional seniority based hierarchy. Mr. Agbajor (an Itsekiri police officer who had escaped from a northern hit squad at Makurdi in September 1966) became Chief of Police. Mr. Esedebe (Midwest Ibo) functioned as Head of Service.

Some military officers then persuaded a number of traditional rulers in the Ibo-speaking areas of the state to sign petitions calling for a merger with their "kith and kin" in the east. Local Governments across the board were mandated to donate materials for transportation to Enugu to assist in the War effort. Salt was rationed because of its presumably more important use as a raw material for explosives. Because of the cutoff of northern sources of cattle, meat became scarce. Shortages of other essential commodities also developed. As might be expected, not everyone was equally affected by the shortages, creating yet another sore point (among many) for ethnic resentment.

Outright molestation, harassment and killing of non-Ibo civilians occurred on a daily basis. At night "suspected saboteurs" were fished out of their homes and arrested. The Hausa community in the Lagos street area of Benin and other parts of the state were targeted for particularly savage treatment, in part a reprisal for the pogroms of 1966, but also out of security concerns that they would naturally harbor sympathies for the regime in Lagos. But non-Hausas were just as badly treated. And as the hostility of the local population became more intense, so did the degree of indiscrete brutality for "internal security". Non-Ibo alumni of St. Patrick's College, Asaba and Government College, Ughelli, found to their chagrin that old school ties meant nothing in the new dispensation

Radio broadcasts "educated" the public about the role of 'gallant' Biafran troops who had only come to liberate them from the "bondage of the feudal Hausa-Fulani oligarchy". An economic cooperation agreement was announced between the 'independent' states of Biafra and the Midwest. The truth, though, was that Ojukwu retained authority to approve all expenditures made by the Okonkwo regime and it was not until September 13th that normal postal, telephone and telegraphic services between Biafra and the Midwest were resumed . Counter-propaganda was indeed launched by federal radio, which appealed to the citizens of the state for loyalty and cooperation.

In this atmosphere, civil resistance and disobedience germinated, predominantly among non-Ibos. But a few Midwest Ibo-speaking soldiers and civilians did become leery about the invasion and felt the 'interference' from "across the Niger" was getting out of hand. On the other side of this opinion divide was the powerful, so-called "Enugu clique", eager to share in the destiny of the corporate Ibo nation. Such ambiguous sensitivities and antipathies within and between "western" and "eastern" Ibos have always existed. Long after the civil war, for example, it even affected negotiations about the creation of a proposed Anioma state .

illicit:
Are we going to start measuring dicks too now bro

C'mon

Fck off already

cocolacec:
Good idea, Solid-Minerals,Immigration,Tourism,Sports,Finance,Defence.

Immigration can not be regionalised .

So also finance and Defense ministries.

By pre-arrangement, the Midwestern Area Command put up no resistance, essentially folding into the Biafran rearguard. Among others, the Officers who were most deeply involved in all of this were Lt. Cols. Mike Okwechime, Igboba, Nwajei, Ochei and Col. Conrad Nwawo. [Nigerian Army Headquarters took the view that these "Nigerian" officers were involved in a coup d'etat against the Midwestern region of Nigeria; this attitude that affected the way those who survived were treated after the war ended in Jan 1970.

The Military Governor, Col. David Ejoor, eventually escaped to Lagos, after an unusual August 11/12 midnight meeting with Lt. Col. Banjo at the Catholic Seminary in Benin City. During this encounter, he apparently declined an offer to serve as Governor and assist in efforts to remove both Gowon and Ojukwu from office and form a new reconciliatory national government in the "Dominion of Southern Nigeria". Lt. Col. Nwajei, 'Major' Alale and an unnamed Biafran 'officer' (possibly Achuzia) apparently witnessed this interesting meeting. Banjo not only apologized to Ejoor for the attack on Government House, but also stated that Ojukwu had told him that Ejoor was fully aware of the plan to seize the Midwest!

On August 13, having decided that the situation was too complicated, Ejoor slipped out of the capital, dressed in a disguise, hitching a ride in a car until he got to the Sakpoba River. From there he reportedly trekked to an Urhobo settlement where he mounted a bicycle, which he says he rode for 80 miles to his mother's village at Ebor-Orogun. He remained in hiding until September 23, when (with Benin and Warri safely back in federal hands), he emerged to rendezvous with Lt. Col. Benjamin Adekunle at Warri, enroute to Lagos by air. After stints as Director of Training and Planning at Supreme Headquarters and Commandant, Nigerian Defence Academy, years later, as a Major General, he eventually became the last person to hold the title of 'Chief of Staff, Army'. He was retired in July 1975, at which time the title was changed to 'Chief of Army Staff' .

Banjo not only declared a free and independent Midwest region, but also expressed lack of support for the concept of an independent Biafra, infuriating Ojukwu in the process. On August 11, Lt. Col. Nwawo appealed to all soldiers in the 4th area command to "return to duty". Conceivably, their role was to help garrison the Midwest while the main group of Biafrans proceeded to Lagos. At this point, Major Sam Ogbemudia, (who was subsequently declared wanted and had a bounty placed on his head), explains in his memoirs that he went underground to assist in organizing a resistance movement (14). For those interested in parallels, this was akin to the French or Polish Resistance against Nazi occupation in the forties. Ogbemudia was trained in special warfare techniques at Fort Bragg in the United States, and had also been Chief Instructor (support weapons wing) at the Nigerian Military Training College in Kaduna. Under Major Nzeogwu and Colonel Shodeinde, he taught classes in guerrilla warfare to military trainees.

Major-General Yakubu Gowon was very concerned about the dynamics of the Midwest before the invasion (12). Recognizing that (by prior agreement) there were no "northern" troops in the Midwest, he (Gowon) took the precaution of quietly creating a new brigade at Okene (in modern day Kogi State). According to Garba (10), a company was also positioned at Ore and may have been the group that put up some resistance at Siluko. All of these soldiers later came under the command of 28 year old Lt. Col . Murtala Ramat Mohammed. Although he was the coup-leader, he ceded leadership to Gowon after the July 29, 1966 counter-coup and was practically a man in search of a mission for some time after that. In a curious twist of fate, the Biafran invasion gave the Kano-born, Hausa-speaking Mohammed an opportunity to return to his ancestral home in Auchi in the Midwest region as a Liberator (17).

Initially, these Okene based troops were being massed in preparation for a possible dash to Agbor through Auchi, in the Midwestern region, to cut off any attempt by the Biafran Army to match on Benin City and on to Lagos (12). According to Ejoor, the nucleus of this unit was the 3rd battalion originally based in Ibadan, which had been transferred to Okene. In Ejoor's opinion (13), the subsequent eastward movement of most of this battalion to provide reinforcement for the Nsukka sector, opened up the flank for Ojukwu's invasion of the Midwest. Events validate Ejoor's perspective, because the 3rd battalion was not in place to stop Ivenso from entering Okene on August 13th.

Clearly monitoring the unstable situation in the Midwest, and looking for a pretext based on real or imagined troop movements, Ojukwu struck on August 9th, fast and with near-total surprise. Near total, because the clouds of imminent invasion were noticed by at least a few others. One Sergeant Major, for example, desperately sought guidance from a few non-Ibo officers to pre-emptily arrest all Midwest Ibo officers. He was quite prepared to do this, he said, as long he had an order to do so. No one was willing to bite the bullet, perhaps for fear it might boomerang. Those were anxious days (17).

ElSudani:
Who is Okoro? Maje ka ja o.

If you like claim Majek Fashek

Okoro