₦airaland Forum

The first bank note issue

Most commentators on Biafra’s bank notes report that the first issue occurred immediately after the declaration of independence – but this is not correct. Although reports had appeared in the international press as early as June 1967 that Biafra intended to issue its own bank notes, it was not until 1968 that the first bank notes were introduced. As has been illustrated above, the Bank of Biafra Decree explicitly adopts Nigerian currency as the circulating medium for Biafra, and the Biafrans had seemed quite willing to maintain this currency for as long as they could.
            Prior to the war, Ojukwu had expressed the desire for a loose association of states which would include the Nigerian regions (as separate states) and its neighbours such as Togo and Dahomey (Benin). One of the barriers to this loose association would have been the different currencies, but Ojukwu did not see this as an insurmountable problem, and his subsequent desire to retain the Nigerian currency for Biafra may be ascribed to his desire to retain a single unit of currency in a confederation of states (which is what he hoped his secession would bring). On the other hand, the retention of Nigerian currency may simply have been to provide a recognised circulating medium, and to provide some legitimacy to Biafra’s use of Nigerian currency in purchasing foreign exchange.
            When the Nigerians announced that they would no longer redeem bank notes exported from Nigeria after August 1967, the Biafrans worked quickly to gather bank notes remaining in circulation so that they could be converted into precious foreign exchange. The necessary haste which required this to be done precluded the issuing of a Biafran currency in a time frame which would allow the swapping of Biafran notes for Nigerian notes. Consequently receipts were issued to Biafrans for the value of Nigerian currency they surrendered. When Nigeria announced the introduction of their new note issue was to be on 3 January 1968, the Biafrans were still collecting Nigerian notes. Despite the advance warnings given by Lagos, and the dubious manner in which the Biafrans were raising revenue with Nigerian currency, the Biafran Government looked upon the Nigerian announcement as a heinous action. Comments made in a speech by General Ojukwu in February 1969 (a year after the events), reflect the public despair that was expressed at the Nigerian decree (although Ojukwu himself could not have been surprised):
‘The government has long been aware of the terrible experiences of our people over the issue of currency. The present difficulties started when early last year [1968] Nigeria, on the advice of Whitehall, suddenly decided on its wicked and diabolical plan to dispossess our people of their wealth by means of the notorious currency switch. We had to do something quickly to save the near-disastrous situation. New currency was introduced. With the short time at our disposal, we could only produce notes in denominations of £1 and 5/-; we could not produce coins. We had to arrange and conclude the exercise in a hurry. The production of our currency notes could not be of the highest quality.’ (Ojukwu, 1969)
            From Ojukwu’s speech it appears that the emergency issue was prepared in a short period of time, although the need for an alternate currency would have dated from the time when Nigerian notes were first withdrawn from circulation. Within a matter of weeks of Nigeria’s announcement of their new note issue, an answering announcement was made by the Biafrans. On 27 January 1968 Gen. Ojukwu declared to the 7th Session of the Consultative Assembly and Council of Chiefs and Elders:
‘Fellow countrymen, I am happy to announce to you that I have today signed a decree introducing Biafran currency notes which will be the legal tender throughout the Republic of Biafra. By that same decree, Nigeria currency notes will cease to be legal tender in Biafra. Our new currency notes, along with our new postage stamps, will be issued to the public on January 29, 1968.’ (Ojukwu, 1969)
            Despite Ojukwu’s official speech on 27 January and an announcement to the international press on 30 January on the introduction of the new bank notes, there is some lingering doubt as to the official versions of events (which can sometimes be misleading, especially when recorded some time after the events). There is the possibility that the Biafran currency was actually introduced earlier than stated, for in an interview at Umuahia on 18 January 1968, Gen. Ojukwu made the following comment:
‘I understand that some women in the villages said that if this money [during the recall of Nigerian currency for Biafran currency] was wanted for the war they did not mind; the government should take it all.’ (Ojukwu, 1969)
The italics in the above quotation is an editorial comment added to the interview for the publication of Ojukwu’s book, and it could not be correct if the Biafran currency was introduced some ten days after the interview. The editorial comment is therefore either incorrect (the recall may have been for the interim receipts), or the currency was issued earlier than Ojukwu stated; and one source does give the date of issue as 10 January. Whatever the exact date of issue, the quote above does show that, following Nigeria’s announcement of their new note issue, Biafra continued to collect as many Nigerian notes as possible before the notes could no longer be redeemed. This is supported by a statement by Dr. Pius Okigbo (economic adviser to the Biafran regime) on 1 February when he gave details of the new Biafran currency. It was in this statement that Dr. Okigbo said that the Biafrans had collected £53 million in the three weeks since Nigeria’s announcement that the notes would no longer be legal tender after 22 January.
            Another discrepancy in official versions lies in the date of the declaration whereby Nigerian notes were no longer to be legal tender. Ojukwu’s speech dates the declaration at 27 January 1968 (the date of the announcement of Biafra’s new currency), whereas his ‘Diary of Events’ dates it at 22 January (the same day that the old Nigerian notes were no longer accepted by the Central Bank of Nigeria).
            Records of the introduction of Biafran currency, which might confirm the dates in question, are few and far between. This is due to two main reasons – firstly, such a matter becomes of secondary importance in the struggle of a war-torn country, and secondly, it appears that Ojukwu played his hand on this matter quite close to his chest. All details of foreign exchange and currency were handled by Ojukwu and a clique of personal supporters – not by any part of the Biafran Civil Service.
            Currency itself seems to have been a subject close to Ojukwu (or one of his advisers), as we find the following clause in instructions sent to the delegates of the Eastern Region who were negotiating with Nigeria prior to secession.
‘The question of central banking and coinage is something which must be very carefully looked into. I am worried by the news that the Federal Government, because of shortage of funds for its services, has authorised the printing of a large quantity of unbacked notes for circulation. Such a unilateral inflationary decision could damage the economy of the component parts. I shall send to the conference, when the time comes, economic experts who will advise on detailed arrangements with a view to safeguarding our future in this respect.’ (Akpan, 1972)
It is most likely that when the time came to organise the first issue of Biafran notes, Ojukwu played a significant role. Unfortunately he was later to suffer a problem far removed from the over-issue he suspected Nigeria of planning – he was to face empty bank vaults and the lack of a circulating medium. (This occurrence being due to insufficient Biafran notes being delivered to replace the Nigerian currency, which had been extracted from circulation.)
            Realising that their activities had led to a greatly reduced amount of money in circulation, the Biafrans prepared to replace the Nigerian currency, with this endeavour resulting in the first Biafran note issue. There were only two denominations in the first issue (five shillings and one pound), and according to Dr. Okigbo in his statement of 1 February the reason for this was the desire for the Biafrans to deflate their economy – although the reality would appear to be insufficient planning. Realising that the currency was unlikely to be accepted outside Biafra, Dr. Okigbo also stated that the lack of international acceptance and an according exchange rate was immaterial since the currency was intended only for circulation in Biafra. The two notes of the first series have a common front, although they are different sizes and different colours. To the left of each note is a rising sun with a palm tree in the foreground, the value of the note is in a disc to the right, and the remaining areas of the note are covered with patterns imitating intaglio engine-work (i.e. lines drawn by a geometric lathe). There is also the usual text associated with any bank note – the name of the country, ‘Republic of Biafra’; the name of the bank, ‘Bank of Biafra’; the ‘promise to pay on demand the sum of ...’; and the value of the note, e.g. ‘five shillings’. The notes are signed by the ‘Governor’ and a ‘Director’ of the Bank of Biafra.
            On the back of the 5-shilling note is a picture of four Ibo girls, and surrounding the value of the note to the left is a ‘manilla’. Manillas are a type of primitive money that were in use in Nigeria for hundreds of years. Constructed from copper bars they form an incomplete circle (or oval) having lobes at the ends and are often described as bracelets or armlets. Their use was very popular amongst the Ibos until recent times and they were only demonetised during the 1940’s.
            The back of the 1-pound note carries the Biafran coat of arms above a wreath (constructed of two sprigs of unidentified leaves), and a ceremonial spear behind the disc in which the value of the note is held. The spear (which appears to the left of the 1-pound’s back) is called an ‘Alo’ amongst the Ibo people. It is regarded as a sceptre of power and authority, being carried by Ozo titled men, and as well as its symbolic importance it was also used as a weapon when necessary. (Titled men are part of traditional societies or brotherhoods.)
            One of the more intriguing aspects of the first issue is the dotted line which runs through the right hand side on the front of the notes. At first it appears to be a ‘Morse code’ security thread, but the marks are in fact printed on the front of the notes. If this is intended to imitate a Morse code thread, then one can only wonder what the Morse characters are meant to spell. Depending on which direction the code is read, the marks on the 5–shilling notes can be decoded as:
                                                ‘E T E M N E N I R’ or ‘R I A E A M E T E’
and on the 1-pound:
                                                ‘M T E M N E N I W’ or ‘G I A E A M E T M’
(The leading and trailing codes may be truncated, and these particular letters may not be correct.)
            It is interesting that such an attempt has been made to produce this quasi-security device, as another very simple security device is absent – that of non-fluorescing paper. Nearly all bank notes are printed on paper which does not fluoresce under ultra-violet light, and the use of fluorescing paper for these notes points very much to it being an emergency issue. (Most types of paper have a high timber pulp content, and are treated with agents which brighten the paper and produce a surface which fluoresces under ultra-violet light. Security printers usually use paper, particularly paper with high linen and cotton content, which is not treated in such a manner.)
            Of the various symbols used in the design of the Biafran bank notes (both issues), several were very important. Like any new nation, Biafra was keen to be identified with its own national symbols, and for this new republic these were primarily their coat of arms, the rising sun, and the palm tree – all being used extensively on Biafran national instruments.
– The coat of arms used by Biafra was derived from the coat of arms granted to the Eastern Region of Nigeria in 1960. The difference being that the Eastern Region’s arms had supporters of a leopard (on the left) and a man carrying a spear – an ‘Alo’ – (on the right), whereas the Biafran arms had two leopards supporting the shield. The shield contains the rising sun, plus three manillas linked together over an area divided into three parts, which are properly coloured red, black, and green. (These were also the colours of the Biafran flag – three horizontal bars of red, black, and green, with the rising sun in the centre of the black band). Above the shield is an eagle clutching a tusk or horn, and representations of the eagle appeared on a number of Biafran coins.
– Taken from their coat of arms, the rising sun became the dominant symbol of Biafra. It appeared on their flag, their coins and bank notes, on military insignia, and it gave rise to the title of their national anthem, Land of the Rising Sun.
– The palm tree was important because of its economic significance to Biafra – next to oil, products from the palm trees were the most valuable exports from the region prior to the new republic being declared. In addition, the depiction of a single palm tree had been the dominant feature on the bank notes of the West African Currency Board from 1916 to 1951, and gave a visual reminder of the notes of that era. (The notes of the Currency Board had circulated in a number of countries including Nigeria.)
            The 1968 Biafran bank note issue was not only an emergency issue, it also faced the trials and tribulations of the country it was serving – many of the notes not making it to Biafra. In his ‘Diary of Events’ Gen. Ojukwu makes the following entry:
‘August 13 [1968]: The Hank Wharton Plot, hatched by British government and American CIA to sabotage Biafra and help Nigeria to carry through her ‘final thrust’ into Biafran heartland. Cargoes of arms and ammunition bought by Biafra are dumped into the sea during airflight. Tons of new Biafran currency are dumped into the sea, to create artificial scarcity in the Republic.’ (Ojukwu, 1969).
Hank Wharton was an American transport operator who had come to an arrangement with the Biafrans to fly arms twice weekly from Lisbon (Portugal) to Biafra. During Nigeria’s ‘final thrust’ of August 1968 (which proved not so final), Wharton’s planes did not arrive when needed. According to one version, the planes broke down while flying in their cargo, and jettisoned the much needed supply of weapons, and evidently other cargo such as the Biafran bank notes, before returning to Lisbon. Another version states that one plane was forced to jettison much of its cargo, including over half the bank notes it was carrying, into the Atlantic while flying along the coast. The plane was then unable to land in Biafra and had to land in Sao Tome. Another of Wharton’s planes had been destroyed mysteriously in Bissau (in Portuguese Guinea) shortly before this, and another had been impounded in Athens, leading the Biafrans to believe that Wharton had been ‘got at’ by the CIA and the British (who were also working amongst African nations in an effort to stop assistance to the struggling republic). Wharton was subsequently fired and a new supply route established.
            The blockades imposed on Biafra by Nigeria and her allies started to take their toll, and it would seem that the loss of the of bank notes through Hank Wharton’s ‘treachery’ was one of the more telling blows. In his ‘Diary of Events’ for 1 September 1968, Gen. Ojukwu again records – ‘Acute shortage of currency due to Hank Wharton’s Plot.’ In the Biafran towns and cities the shortage of money was one of the many problems people faced. Banks would go for days without opening because there was no money for withdrawals, and when some was available it was rationed – people being allowed to withdraw no more than one pound a day. Of course the shortage of money was not due simply to the loss of the notes carried by Wharton’s plane, it was due mainly to the near-total withdrawal of Nigerian notes without the Biafran substitute being available.
            Although the Central Bank of Nigeria had declared that the old Nigerian currency would no longer be exchanged after 22 January 1968, the trade in old Nigerian bank notes continued well into 1968. It appears that the authorities in Lagos would not release the new Nigerian bank notes in those areas of the Eastern Region which had been liberated from the Biafran ‘rebels’, for fear that a bank full off the new notes may be captured in a counter-offensive. Consequently there were three currencies circulating in Nigeria – new Nigerian notes in the West and North, Biafran notes in the areas controlled by the ‘rebels’ and old Nigerian notes in those areas of the East which had been liberated by the Nigerians. Because the old Nigerian notes continued to be accepted in certain areas, the value of the old Nigerian currency was not entirely worthless. During the later half of 1968 the Central Bank of Nigeria announced they would exchange up to £30 per person and £500 for commercial enterprises in old Nigerian and Biafran currencies. However in the case of the individual no more than £10 of the £30 could be made up with Biafran notes and in the case of the commercial enterprises the limit was £100. Should any individual or enterprise wish to surrender a greater amount than the stated limits, then this would be done so long as the requests were registered with the exchange control authorities. While the continued acceptance of old Nigerian notes encouraged the continued activities by smugglers, by January 1969 the old Nigerian Pound had become almost unacceptable on the black market, worth only the merest fraction of its face value.

The Bank of Biafra

After the declaration of independence, one of the new Republic’s first concerns was to establish the infrastructure of the new state. Essentially, most of the institutions required for running the new republic existed as part of the Nigerian government’s administration for the Eastern region. So it was merely a matter of changing the line of authority to the Military Governor of Biafra, rather than to the relevant Minister in the Nigerian government. Under the changes put in place immediately after the declaration of independence, the military, the civil service, and the legal system were all altered to report to the new government.
            One of the first institutions to be created by the republican government was the Bank of Biafra, which was accomplished under ‘Decree No. 3 of 1967’ (also known as the ‘Bank of Biafra Decree, 1967’). Under this decree the functions of the bank were established:
‘The Bank shall carry out all the central banking functions in the Republic including the administration of foreign exchange and the management of the public debt of the Republic.’
Under this decree the bank was to be administered by a board consisting of a Governor and not less than four Directors, who were to be appointed by the Military Governor. The Governor of the Bank seems to have been Sylvester U. Uqoh (as deciphered from the signature on the Biafran bank notes), but the identity of any directors remains a mystery.
            The Bank of Biafra Decree also stated that all property held in the republic by the Central Bank of Nigeria was to be transferred to the Bank of Biafra. One of the more interesting assets of the Central Bank that was specifically seized was its currency. Paragraph 8 of the decree states:
‘Currency notes and coins of the Federal Republic of Nigeria shall remain legal tender in the Republic of Biafra until such further day as the Military Governor may specify.’
Paragraph 9 of the decree then states:
‘The Bank shall maintain existing parity of the Nigerian pound.’
            Under the decree, the central office of the Bank of Biafra was to be in Enugu, which was the capital of the Republic. However Enugu was one of the first casualties of the war, and the administrative centre of Biafra was moved to several locations (including Aba, Umuahia and Orlu) during the course of the war. The headquarters of the Bank of Biafra were known to be located in Port Harcourt in early 1968, but the town fell to federal troops on 19 May of that year, and the headquarters of the Bank were probably relocated several times due to the fluctuating fortunes of the Republic.
            Under a separate decree – ‘Decree No.4 of 1967’ (also known as the ‘Banking Decree, 1967’) – the Banking Act of the Federal Republic of Nigeria was adapted to suit the requirements of the Republic of Biafra. With these two decrees the financial framework of the Bank of Biafra was established, but there was still a more important problem to be faced – that of financing the war.

Foreign exchange

When Biafra declared its independence, it was drastically short of equipment to fight the war, despite the declarations of Lieut.-Col. Ojukwu. Equipment had to be bought quickly, and (of course) had to be paid for. To purchase military equipment on the open market, Biafra had to have foreign exchange, and the efforts of the Biafrans to obtain this foreign exchange were quite exhaustive and quite varied.
            Contemporary reports claim that many individuals presented their savings in local and foreign currency to the government so that weapons could be bought; later, gold and jewels were donated as contributions to the war effort. Money was also being raised from outside the republic. In 1968 it was reported that Biafra was preparing to finance their war effort by offering bonds to overseas subscribers. Unissued copies of ten year bonds for the value of one thousand pounds, dated 15 June 1969 and offered through the London agents of the Republic of Biafra, are extant and show that this method of financing was attempted – although it is not known how many bonds were actually issued.
            Another external source of revenue that was rumoured to have come to the Biafrans, was an advance of six million pounds against the promise of mineral rights. According to documents illustrated in the Daily Times (Lagos) on 9 August 1967, the mineral rights – for columbite ore, uranium, coal, tin concentrates, natural oil, and gold ore – were ceded to the ‘Rot(h)schild Bros Bank’ for a period of ten years. However, most commentators on the war discounted these claims as Nigerian propaganda, seeking to discredit both Ojukwu and the French.
            During the war, a number of international relief agencies were delivering food and medicine to the war-ravaged Republic. Following the end of the war, federal sources claimed that they had found evidence of the Biafrans asking the relief agencies to pay landing fees (in foreign exchange), for the use of their air-strips. This desperate method of raising foreign exchange supposedly lasted only a brief period of time.
            By far the most important strategy of the Biafrans in their quest for foreign exchange, was the conversion of their holdings of Nigerian currency. There have been differing reports as to the amount of Nigerian currency in circulation at the time of secession, but when Nigeria’s Finance Commissioner announced on 30 December 1967 that the new Nigerian notes would replace the current notes in circulation between 3 January and 22 January 1968, he also stated that some £37 million had been seized by the rebels in the east. The Biafrans, on the other hand, claimed that by the end of January 1968 they had collected more than £53 million. However, yet another estimate stated that £30 million were circulating in Biafra at the point of secession, with further reserves of £40 million being held in the bank vaults of the Central Bank in Enugu and Port Harcourt. Whatever the actual amount was, following secession large amounts of currency were quickly taken to Europe where they were added to a further £6 million that had been transferred prior to secession, and steps were taken to convert these Nigerian bank notes into foreign exchange.
            Reports exist that the Biafran government approached the Rothschild Bank – either shortly after the outbreak of war, or at least by the end of 1967 – in an effort to transform their holdings of Nigerian currency. The reports indicate that Rothschild was prepared to pay twelve shillings and sixpence in British currency for each Nigerian pound. (From other reports in the press at the time, this appeared to be the general rate available for the notes. The official exchange rate at the beginning of 1968 was one Nigerian pound to one pound three shillings and four pence sterling – making the Rothschild offer approximately half its real value.) While the Biafrans seem to have rejected this offer, it is likely that some conversion did take place (though not necessarily through Rothschild) – as Gen. Ojukwu stated in February 1969:
‘We have been fighting the war with Nigerian foreign exchange, plus of course, what we converted or what we acquired earlier on.’ (Ojukwu, 1969)
            The reference to ‘what we acquired earlier on’, possibly refers to a windfall to the Biafrans in 1967. In August of that year, just after war had broken out, the Biafrans made a bold assault on the Mid-West region, and meeting little opposition moved to within 120 miles of Lagos. Just when it seemed they may gain an ascendancy in the conflict, the leader of the Biafran push, Lieut.-Col. Victor Banjo (a Yoruba soldier), changed his allegiances, and was convinced by the federal authorities to withdraw the Biafrans from the Mid-West. Moreover, he was commissioned to take part in a plan to assassinate Ojukwu and topple the Biafran regime – a plan that was later uncovered and which cost Banjo his life. However when Lieut.-Col. Banjo had ordered the withdrawal of the Biafran troops from the Mid-Western city of Benin in mid-September, the retreating forces had taken with them some two million pounds in Nigerian currency, taken from bank vaults in Benin. (The vaults had held twelve million pounds, and the other ten million pounds were left untouched, it seems there was just too much money for the retreating forces to carry.)
            It is probable that the two million Nigerian pounds captured in Benin were used by the Biafrans to finance their war effort. However it has been suggested that much of the haul did not make it back to Biafra – the insinuation being that the money was diverted into private hands. It has also been suggested that the money ultimately fell into the hands of Nigerian soldiers who failed to declare their discovery. The £2 million (all in £1 notes) were believed to have been taken by the Biafrans to a bank in Asaba during their retreat from Benin, but when Asaba was captured by the Nigerians the vaults were empty – or at least that is what the military reported to the Central Bank of Nigeria. Notes from the missing cache of one pound notes from Benin started appearing in Lagos in October (just two months after they had been seized) and doubt remains as to whether they were brought back to Lagos by Nigerian soldiers, or by speculators in Nigerian currency who may have bought them at a discount from the Biafrans.
            Nigeria had quickly become aware of the movement of currency from Biafra to Europe and its conversion into foreign exchange. In an effort to curb the flow, the federal government issued a decree in June stating that Nigerian currency exported from Nigeria (including the rebel held Eastern Region) after 21 August 1967, would not be redeemed by the Nigerian Government. Not only was Nigeria taking steps to halt the flow of currency from Biafra, steps were also being taken to introduce a new series of bank notes which would be unavailable to the Biafrans. Once the new notes were introduced, the federal government could stop redeeming notes of their current issue, and by that process make the Biafran holdings worthless – consequently, the Biafran holdings were forced to be sold at a discount. It was generally reported that the notes were being sold at discounts of over 40% their face value. There were of course many stories of enterprising Nigerians who were buying the Biafran holdings in Europe at a discounted rate, and shipping them back to Nigeria where their full value could be obtained. Intermittent reports continued to appear in the international press in late 1967 and early 1968 of foreign nationals attempting to smuggle Nigerian currency into Nigeria.
            When the Nigerian government announced that the old currency would no longer be legal tender after 22 January 1968, there were frantic efforts by the Biafrans to exchange their holdings. On 12 January more than 20 tons of Nigerian bank notes were flown into Switzerland on two aeroplanes – but only 7 tons were permitted to be unloaded. Because 13 tons of the notes arrived in an aircraft registered in Rhodesia, a country with which Switzerland had no diplomatic relations, the Swiss authorities refused to let the cargo be unloaded and the aircraft was forced to continue to Lisbon.
            On 22 January, seven suitcases filled with Nigerian currency worth £252,000 were discovered at London Airport after one of the suitcases split open. The cases were due to be loaded on a flight to Accra in Ghana. Two days earlier an aeroplane carrying £7 million of Nigerian currency was seized at Lomé in Togo. The notes were reported to be on transfer from the Banque Populaire Suisse in Basle to a bank in Ibadan (in Nigeria), but were handed over to the Nigerian government by the Togolese authorities. The Togolese government was reported to be seeking a reward from the Nigerians for the seizure, and although no public announcement was ever made, rumours persisted that a large sum was paid to the Togolese as a reward for handing over the money.

http://www.pjsymes.com.au/articles/biafra.htm



The Bank Notes of Biafra

Peter Symes


First published in the
International Bank Note Society Journal
Volume 36, No.4, 1997
This edition has been updated.


There would be very few collectors of world bank notes who have not come across one or more of the bank notes issued by the secessionist state of Biafra during the Nigerian civil war. Because the notes are very common there is a tendency amongst collectors to ignore them. However they are an intriguing set of notes and will provide a collector with a complete set of a ‘country’ for an affordable price.
            Many collectors will be familiar with the events of the Nigerian civil war, and equally there will be many younger collectors who have little or no memory of the events. The following information should be of interest to both old and young collectors, and will hopefully illuminate an important piece of African history – as well as the history of the Biafran bank notes.

The War

Nigeria was for many years a British colony, but in 1960 it became an independent Federation of three regions – Northern, Western, and Eastern. (After independence, a fourth region – the Mid-west – was created.) Several years later, in 1963, Nigeria became a republic, but it was being plagued by power struggles; and, like so many modern African nations, these power struggles centred around ethnic groups. There are a number of ethnic groups in Nigeria with no group being a clear majority, however the Northern region was dominated by the Hausa, the Western by the Yoruba, and the Eastern by the Ibo (or Igbo).
            Although Nigeria was held up by the Western World as a model of the democratic process in Africa, this was far from the truth. Power was being concentrated in the hands of a few factions in each region, and nationally there was a great deal of political jockeying between the major ethnic groups – particularly the northern Hausa against the southern Yoruba and Ibo. The machinations of the various political elements caused Nigeria to lurch from one political crisis to another in the early years of nationhood. However, matters became critical in January 1966 when a number of junior army officers attempted a coup. While the coup was unsuccessful, it resulted in the deaths of the Prime Minister of Nigeria, the Premiers of the Northern and Western Regions, the federal Minister of Finance, and a number of senior army officers.
            Not surprisingly, the coup generated a deal of confusion and animosity across Nigeria, ultimately resulting in violence. Because many of the officers involved in the coup were Ibos, and because the Premiers of the Eastern and Mid-West Region (who were both Ibos) remained unharmed in the coup, it led many to believe that the coup was promoted by the Ibos. Riots, which broke out in several parts of the country, thus found Ibos as the targets of violence.
            In an effort to take firm control of the country, General Ironsi was appointed by the Nigerian cabinet to head a federal military government. General Ironsi (an Ibo) managed to stabilize the situation, and one of his first acts was to appoint military governors to the four regions – with the most important appointment being that of Lieutenant-Colonel Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu to govern the Eastern Region. When many Ibos decided to forsake their homes and businesses, and flee the violence in various parts of Nigeria to return to their homelands, it was Lieut.-Col. Ojukwu who advised them to return to their homes and businesses, assuring them that peace would be returned under the new government.
            While peace and order were steadily re-established by the Military Government, the stability was being undermined by the desire of the Northern Region to secede from the Federation. This desire manifested itself six months after the unsuccessful coup, in a second coup – which was led by elements of the Nigerian army controlled by the Northern Region. The second coup was successful, and resulted in northern officers taking control of the country and forming a new government – led by General Gowon. The coup also resulted in General Ironsi being murdered, and hundreds of Ibo officers and soldiers being rounded up by their northern counterparts and shot. These overt actions by the new government precipitated massacres of Ibo civilians throughout Nigeria (but particularly in the Northern region), with estimates of the total killed ranging from thirty to fifty thousand. The massacres, not surprisingly, created much fear amongst the Ibos living outside the Eastern Region, and in the weeks following the massacres (September 1966) some two million Ibos gave up their homes and businesses to seek refuge in their eastern homelands.
            It is believed that the Northern Region undertook the coup with the main aim of secession, however British diplomats in Lagos (the Nigerian capital) convinced the new leaders that they should seek unity under ‘one Nigeria’. Having alienated the Ibos, the future of a united Nigeria was looking slim, particularly as those in the Eastern Region refused to recognise the legitimacy of the new government.
            In the Eastern Region, from the time of the massacres, there arose a strong movement amongst the Ibos to break away from the federation. The leaders of this movement were close to the Military Governor, and from late 1966 it seems that plans were being put in place for the Eastern Region to secede. When the federal government offered to appease those in the east, their efforts were rejected, and although a lot of effort was made in trying to bring about a reconciliation, it appeared that those in the east were not willing to come to a compromise.
            In January 1967 the Eastern Region began impounding the rolling stock of the Nigerian Railways and seizing goods at Port Harcourt that were the property of federal authorities. It appeared that the Eastern Region was forcing the hand of the central government – so in an effort to coerce them back under federal control, Lagos began to impose an economic blockade. From April 1967 payments to federal-owned concerns (and employees) were stopped, import licenses to the region were with-held, and all foreign exchange standing in credit of the regional government was seized.
            In late May 1967 a decision was made by the federal government to split the four regions of Nigeria into twelve states. This action and the preceding blockade were the necessary catalysts that those in the east were looking for to show their hand. So, on 30 May 1967, the Eastern Region was declared an independent republic by Lieutenant-Colonel Ojukwu. The name given to the new state was ‘The Republic of Biafra’, the republic taking its name from the Bight of Biafra, on which it had its coast.
            However, Nigeria saw the Biafrans as rebels who were seizing control of the Eastern Region, and determined that force was necessary to bring the recalcitrant state back under the control of the central government. Certain that no great force would be required to subdue the rebel government, the Nigerians prepared for what they referred to as a ‘police action’. After some months of preparation, the federal government launched their first offensive against ‘Biafra’ on 6 July 1967, and the Nigerian civil war began.
            The war continued for two and a half years, with Biafra finally capitulating on 15 January 1970. Despite many early successes, Biafra was mostly on the back foot during the conflict; and, as well as defending itself, had to support the millions of refugees who had returned to the region after the massacres. During the war Biafra reported terrific atrocities by the Nigerians against her people, and reports of starvation which cost hundreds of thousands of Biafran lives became widespread. The Biafran conflict is well documented, with many works addressing the struggle from both sides. What is less well documented, are the many aspects of the administration of the war-torn state – aspects such as the establishment of the Bank of Biafra and the issue of the Biafran bank notes.

No party has ever won the national seat without the political sponsorship from West. Yorubas hold possessively on to the party structure in the negotiationfor roles and positions. Why do Yorubas prefer to be in control of a party rather than have government posts? Because the party is the warehouse for contracts and the true base of political power. The party decides who win or loose elections. The party is the negotiator, the godfather that nominates and eliminates.

If you want to win elections fall in line with Yoruba partisan politics. Bad and decrepit as APGA look if you want it to win national elections snatch it from Ibos and put in the hands of Yoruba to manage...then sit back and watch!

Xtorry,
Yakassai stressed in that statement of reason for the coup that...."it was alleged the conflict between Awo and Akintola caused the coup". If the allegation is true then why go kill Ahmadu Bello, Balewa? This is the point a Yakassai is making.

You missed the rhetoric, did you not?

There is another coup sympathisers that say thi e January coup was payback for killing of Ibo in North since 1945. Then we ask, why Kill Akintola and Ademulegun and Sobanjo?


Yet a third camp says the reason is corruption amongst politicians. To them we ask were the Ibos in politics corrupt free...why were they not killed?


Ibos like you dont know which camp to lay in because your allegations and lies are not resonating with truth. You throw spaghetti on wall hoping it will stick. It is failing to stick!

raumdeuter:
Listen to pat 2 and 3 also to understand why Ibo soldiers killed Akintola

Raum,
The anniversary ...50yrs...was just recent and is not late to rebroadcast those audio messages in all its parts. In fact, it is a message that must be kept alive in the Yoruba conscience. This is Yoruba Ronu in its raw form!

Can you kindly open a fresh thread with all the three parts so we can bring to reminiscing memory.

xtrorry:
Ah, you may soon go the way of your god...

Have you forgotten that soon after the civil war how you wicked bigots and hypocrites connived and robbed Easterners of their hard earned money in banks and gave £20 to only those who could prove they had bank accounts?

You parasitic ingrates proceeded to use the stolen funds to buy up the numerous companies established by the colonial masters, looting the companies and rendering them bankrupt. And that was the beginning of the collapse of the Nigerian economy. Till date the economy is yet to recover.

Instead of developing the Eastern region after the war subsequent evil governments diverted Gowon’s 3Rs to your regions for rapid development while neglecting and under-developing the Eastern region.

https://www.nairaland.com/2847624/biggest-steel-factory-west-africa

MDG for SE: https://www.nairaland.com/2785068/biafra-struggle-disgruntled-elements/3

https://www.nairaland.com/2851265/jude-nkama-appointed-judge-new
http://www.onlineleaks247.com/index.php/2016/01/08/photos-nigerian-makes-history-in-the-us-as-the-first-appointed-african-judge-in-new-jersey/

https://www.nairaland.com/2760376/ernest-obiejesi-donates-world-class

https://www.nairaland.com/2550536/reflection-ndiigbo-eastern-region#37305184

https://www.nairaland.com/2767644/anambra-state-billionaires-state-highest

https://www.nairaland.com/2724451/dominance-igbo-tribe-nigeria-football

https://www.nairaland.com/2729734/must-see-airplane-constructed-nigerian

https://www.nairaland.com/2690726/looking-top-30-richest-nigerians

FYI, Imo airport was built by the people of Imo state; almost everyone contributed even little kids to make the airport a reality.

Acknowledge the simple fact that Igbos fare better than your tribe despite your numerous treasury lootings and federal government presence. The Igbos have the highest concentration of middle-class citizens while squalor and penury pervade your enclaves. You can see the reality in the shocking manner many of your States are in comatose with many of its civil servants surviving on the good gestures of concerned Nigerians.

FYI, the Igbo States are the least affected by the falling crude oil earnings. Go and ask Fayose why Ekiti government had to send some of its citizens to the SE to learn a skill/trade in a bid to grow the economy of Ekiti State.

Feed your eyes and stop being mischievous and bitter that a people you defrauded and cheated are doing excellently and even competing on the world stage:

https://www.nairaland.com/2576371/eastern-neighbourhoods-streets-made

https://www.nairaland.com/237534/look-going-school-nigeria-statistics

http://www.nigerianstat.gov.ng/pages/download/254
https://www.nairaland.com/2263635/south-east-south-west-south-south-lead-attainment

https://www.nairaland.com/2522113/omitted-truth-debunking-lies...nigeria-states

https://www.nairaland.com/237534/look-going-school-nigeria-statistics

https://www.nairaland.com/2690726/looking-top-30-richest-nigerians

https://www.nairaland.com/2671323/anambra-students-win-science-exhibition

https://www.nairaland.com/503406/nigerian-student-achieves-best-2010

https://www.nairaland.com/2613463/igbos-most-brilliant-black-african
The full study can be found here:
http://www.unz.com/article/the-iq-gap-is-no-longer-a-black-and-white-issue/

https://www.nairaland.com/2614116/uzoamaka-aduba-wins-emmy-role#38226903
 
https://www.nairaland.com/2658131/biafra-urhobo-eulogizes-igbo-says

https://www.nairaland.com/2638157/igbo-appreciation-thread


Failures? You only wish. Try harder

https://www.nairaland.com/2691418/photos-igbo-village-built-virginia

Your spirit had been so battered and thoroughly defeated, you were all hanging on the edge and few more months there would not have been a single Ibo left in the land. You had escape route on the Eastern border to flee into Cameroon but even the Cameroonians put a block and refused to admit your refugees in their land. So your spirit was gone, your ego was gone, your dignity had departed, you could not turn North, East or South.... you were worth nothing! Nothing! Not even a pound!

The only place you refugees could run for succour and life was WEST!

Awolowo rescued you in his kindness by giving 20pounds. You were not worth a quarter of 20pounds.

What Awo gave you was not a substitute for your bank savings...but a rehabilitation package. The banks in which you had savings were responsible for returning your money to you. Law statutes that cover bank deposits is on your side and in your favor to employ and drag those banks to court for stealing your trust.

But the truth of matter is you dont have a case against the banks because when you left Nigeria you did so with determination never to return, therefore you emptied your bank savings and took with you. To aggravte the issue even deeper, Ojukwu changed Biafran currency and directed all Ibos who had bank savings anywhere to request it be forward deposited with Bank of Biafra. There is a good test for this truth.

You had Ibos in East whose bank savings were not in Nigerian territory before, during or after the war.... They kept all their money in East. What happened to their savings in the bank...where is their assets? Gobe!

All Ibo money was deposited in Bank of Biafra....in its propaganda war, the bank and its currency was trumepeted in the best of faith as a viable legal tender worth far more than the Nigerian currency, and so it was seen as an emblem of pride as well. When Bank of Biafra collapsed....guess what? All Ibo savings went woooff into the wind!

So the proper account of history is that Awo in his magnanimity was a father of benevolence to the returning pauperized and broken spirit Ibos. The best of you looked worse than Oliver Twist.

Awolowo's kindness and warm heart and rehabilittative social policies is the platform upon which you Biafrans stand today. You have abused it and we will soon yank it from underneath you. Hope you have the name of the bank your father had hid savings in....contact that bank and initiate a legal action using bank deposit statues as tailwind in your effort to recover stolen legacy from the bank so you can voluntarily step off this Awo social platform on your own before we yank it.

You cool?

ExplorerReturns:
Nigeria should swallow her pride and appoint okonjo iweala. we need her now more than ever. our current finance minister is clueless and daft. we all know that Igbos are naturally good managers and we also know what happened to the companies that fell victim indigenization policy. professionalism should supersede tribalism and party.

Ogun economy is not thesame with Nigeria's economy.

Lmao. Tell madam Ngozi to step foot in Nigeria nau.


Hello EFCC...hello, can you hear me, EFCC....madam Ngozi is preparing for homecoming. Can you guys use money recovered from Metuh to throw a owambe for madam, with aso ebi and everything?

xtrorry:
Frustrated Agbameta, I can volunteer to feed your generation but first go clean your shit-ridden bumbum and smelly toilet.

With all the political 'sophistication' of Yorubas yet Tinubu pocketed many Yorubas mentally and economically.
Your loud obnoxious noisemaking attitude attributing sophistication to yourselves whereas all that can be seen is idiocy and bunch of simpletons been brainwashed and led to perdition by The Greatest Looter of the Century. 

And the likes of your very self who only but sheepishly follow him is here forming consequential to attempt to divert attention from the very obvious...

FYI, Igbos are not responsible for you selling off your father's properties to organise owambe parties. Now you're perpetually condemned as a tenant to an Igbo man...

Have you heard news about Odua Investments lately?
This is setting up competition with DAWN to accelerate development and corporate acquisitions....capital investments and security!

Yorubas have been running parallel governments since 200AD. Very shrewd and sophisticated!

I hope this is provocative enough to further elicit your venom against Tinubu.

xtrorry:
Gowon, Awolowo, Ejoor, Adebayo, Mobolaji Johnson, Katsina, Wey and all the groups that supported and advised the Federal Government of Nigeria to renege on the accords agreed upon in Aburi, Ghana were responsible for the 1967-70 Civil War, alongside their murderous kinsmen who killed innocent Easterners in revenge for an act done by a misguided group of soldiers comprising both Southerners and Northerners.

Ojukwu tried making peace, and called for peace-talk in a neutral ground hence the Aburi Accord, but Gowon and his co-travellers violated the agreement reached. If Ojukwu wanted war he wouldn't have called for peace talk in Ghana but the declaration of Biafra was inevitable as the killing of Easterners continued across the country. Ojukwu never asked for war! Ojukwu only declared Biafra when over thirty thousand corpses littered the Northern region in the aftermath of the January 15 1966 coup. Gowon and his cohorts declared the civil war! And Benjamin Adekunle, one the Nigerian soldier, later attested to the fact that Nigeria declared war because of oil in the Eastern region and not for the unity of the country!

Why didn't the July 1966 counter-coup plotters just wipe out the Eastern political class and call it a day. Aguiyi Ironsi did nothing deserving death yet they killed him. Ironsi was too much of a peacemaker and he died making useless peace, appeasing the Northerners. The counter coup plotters simply wanted a war and they sure got one.
Bear in mind there was no war before the pogrom of 1966 started in the North.
So why resort to maiming and killing innocent Easterners cum civilians. Has the killings stopped till date? NO!

The February 13, 1976 Dimka-led coupists came from Benue and Plateau region. They assassinated Murtala Mohammed then Head of State, yet there was no genocide carried against the Middle-belt people. Why was same treatment not given to the ethnic groups of the Dimka-led coupists that committed same offence? It's simply hypocrisy!
It is even against the military rule to harm the innocent civilians during coup.

For personal studies consult the following sources: 
[color=#550000]
*http://www.naijastories.com/2013/04/the-facts-and-fiction-of-the-january-15-1966-coup/

*https://www.nairaland.com/334770/famous-aburi-conference-full-minute/3

* Nowa Omoigui’s online account: ‘Mid-Western Invasion of 1967’ - where he mentioned ‘Captain Ganiyu Adeleke, who had taken part in both the January 15 coup and the Mid-Western invasion before becoming an instructor in the Biafran School of Infantry.

* ‘Why We Struck’ - a book by  Adewale Ademoyega, a full blooded Yoruba army officer, who was deeply involved in the planning and execution of the January 1966 coup.

* Max Silloun (the military historian) landmark online article - ‘The inside story of Nigeria’s first military coup Parts 1 and 2

* 'Nigeria’s Five Majors’ - book by Ben Gbulie

* Major General Alexander Madiebo - excerpts from his interview with National Mirror
http://elombah.com/index.php/special-reports/13104-blame-gowon-and-awolowo-for-biafra-genocide-general-madiebo

* ‘Reluctant Rebel’ - a book by Captain Fola Oyewole, who went on to fight for Biafra just like Ademoyega 

* See the list of coup plotters detained by Ironsi’s regime in Ademoyega pp.106-108

* Sanusi Lamido's writings, "Afenifere: Syllabus of Errors" published by This Day (The Sunday Newspaper) on Sept 27, 1998. 

* Sanusi Lamido's writings/publication in the weekly Trust entitled " The Igbo, the Yoruba and History" (Aug. 21, 1998)

* Sanusi Lamido's paper presented at the “National Conference On The 1999 Constitution” Jointly Organised By The Network For Justice And The Vision Trust Foundation, At The Arewa House, Kaduna From 11th –12th September, 1999.

* http://www.nigerianbulletin.com/threads/yorubas-are-the-problem-with-nigeria-by-sanusi-lamido-sanusi-elombah-com.111348/

alceme:
Setting the record straight. these are the officers that plotted the said coup

1. Major Chukwuma Kaduna Nzeogwu (Delta Igbo)

2. Major Adewale ademoyega (Yoruba) author of “Why we struck”

3. Capt. G. Adeleke (Yoruba)

4. Maj. Ifeajuna (Igbo)

5. Lt. Fola Oyewole (Yoruba) author of “The reluctant rebel”

6. Lt. R. Egbiko(Esean)

7. Lt. Tijani Katsina(Hausa/Fulani)

8. Lt. O. Olafemiyan(Yoruba)

9. Capt. Gibson Jalo(Bali)

10. Capt. Swanton(Middle Belt)

11. Lt. Hope Harris Eghagha (Urhobo)

12. Lt. Dag Warribor(Ijaw)

13. 2nd Lt. Saleh Dambo(Hausa)

14. 2nd Lt. John Atom Kpera(Tiv).

So, to an unbiased observer, what evidence can one provide to show that Igbos actually carried out the coup in order to exterminate other tribes and take over the country? It is very easy to sell falshood, but it is very difficult to provide facts to buttress your claims.

Are you aware there were Ibos who fought on the Nigerian side against Biafra? So using your logic of error displayed above we should conclude forthwith that damages done to Iboland and Ibos were orchestrated by their own brothers in Nigerian Army uniform.

viviangist3:
The dancers for the last picture na Boys oooo No BE Girls oooo , Anambra get something .. but no be gays ooo

Anambra is gay capital of Nigeria...everybody know this, but this is no time for that discussion, I will catch you miscreants some other time. This thread is celebrating Pa Ngige in his death, may he rest in peace.

xtrorry:
https://www.nairaland.com/2791382/history-igbo-massacre-across-northern
teufelein post:
History Of IGBO Massacre Across The Northern Nigeria

MASSACRE (City/Town and Year)

1. Jos 1945
2. Kano genocide 1953
3. 1966 pogroms- over 60,000 civilians were killed
4. May 29th 1967- over 200,000 civilians were killed.
5. 1967-70 – over 3,100,0000 killed during the bloody civil war (Including the Asaba Genocide).
6. Kano 1980
7. Maiduguri 1982
8. Jimeta 1984
9. Gombe 1985
10.Zaria 1987
11.Kaduna & Kafanchan 1991
12.Bauchi & Katsina 1991
13. Kano 1991
14. Zangon-Kataf 1992
15. Funtua 1993
16. Kano 1994
17. Kaduna 2000
18. Kaduna 2001
19. Maiduguri 2001
20. Jos Maiden Crisis-Setember 2001
21. Kaduna 2002
22.Jos-November 2008
23. Beheading of Gideon Akaluka in December of 1996 in a POLICE STATION in Kano
24. Saint Moritz killed December 2001
25. Post April 2011 Presidential Election: 10 youth-corps men & women and numerous citizens murdered because a Christian Southerner was elected.
26. Jos Christmas Eve 2010
27. Madalla Christmas day 2011
28. Mubi January 6 2012
29. The many Igbo deaths caused by boko haram(which of course has the full backing of the northern elites).

And the list goes on. By the time you read this more would have died. The situation is getting out of hand and the Nigerian government has shown that it lacks the will and the capability to protect the life and property of Igbos in Nigeria.

The killings must stop. If you are Igbo and you are still playing the ostrich, it could be you tomorrow, me, or your loved ones.

http://www.may30.org/history-of-igbo-massacre-across-the-northern-nigeria/

I read your list and do not see Ogbomoso on the list. What was the reason for killing Akintola, Ademulegun and his wife, Sobanjo, all Yorubas from West....not North?

OP,
What local government and state were these people in?

tombraokoto:
Why are you apologizing when it was obvious they started the war? Ojukwu started that war that claimed the lives of 3 million people out of greed. He and his fellow tribesmen wanted to control Nigeria and annex the lands of the SS. Ask yourself if truly the war was not a war of greed why did biafran soldiers invade Benin City and looted the Central bank there? Why did they try to annex Warri? Why was Warri included in the biafran map even when Delta was never part of the Eastern region? Why did the Niger Delta fight against them? Look stop allowing sentiments to becloud your sense of reasoning. Stop falling for this victim mentality they are using on you. All is fair in war.

The mofos already had their Biafra securely in their grips and all they had to do is startvgoverning within theit own sovereingty and work the diplomatic circle to win friends over, instead long throat pushed them in greedy quest to expand Biafran territory Westward.

Crazy mofos!

Olabestonic001:
On behalf of the Yoruba's (both supportive and non-supportive of my statement here), I apologize for the cruelty of the Civil War. To all my Igbo friends, I'm very sorry for the Red War that turned the beauty of humanity to savagery, the brilliancy of our hearts to criminality and the piety of the human race to villainity.
Please, every Igbo reading this, pardon the Yoruba's; I personally ask present an unreserved apology. I know some will not like my apology and others still have the rights to be hateful. For such people, pls, pardon the Yoruba's. May we all find the heart to say sorry to the recipients of the brunts of the Civil War.

Nijabazaar, find a place in your heart to forgive the Yoruba's. GOD bless the Igbo's and GOD bless Nigeria.

May Edumare.....

dude, dont make me release a curse upon your head. Stop joking with this kind of stuff.

Ibo owe Yoruba apology. Next you say something like this i will not be forgiving on your soul.

Notice to Ibos

The Bridge to Nowhere!

If money designated to equip military in the fight against terrorism can be shared so recklessly, what immunes the money allocated to build second Niger bridge from being similarly disbursed amongst few corrupt hands?

Stop defending Metuh, take lesson from this Dasukigate revelation and shout to the Nation to probe contracts spanning 40+yrs on this bridge to nowhere.

How much was budgeted, which ministry was empowered to award the contract, was the contract awarded, to who, who signed papers, which account received funds, who was heading and coordinating project....? Tell EFCC to open investigation and inspect your people in the East...afterall this was a regional project, not national like Dasukigate.

Probe your people and bring them to accountability instead of defending their criminality. Be a responsible ethnic group and demonstrate ethical judgement for once, please!

Tell Lt. Ada Ibos Jews of Eastern Nigeria are suffering from Holocaust, Yoloba and Awusa are throwing them in Lagoon and cutting their throat , her rescue commandos are urgently needed.

May her soul rest in peace

The true reason of this visit is sensitivity around the possibility of arresting and trying Jonathan for aggravated assault against Nigeria and the implications.

EFCC will visit each region in turn and sample opinion and input of trusted statesmen.

Much of the dirt under Jonathan is coming to surface and there is hush hush to keep low and round up culprits before their atrocities hit newswave and they abscond. Some of the fear also is that EFCC need to identify and shield some of these rogues before hired assassins get to them and eliminate vital source of information.

Buhari is determined to unravel those behind attacks that breached security of the highest military campus in the nation - The Army Command in Jaji. The same set of cabal were responsible for break ins in barracks and looting of weapons depot. The dragnet already identified who these people are....you cannot arrest them and leave Jonathan free. What is the implication of arresting an Ex President? Thats what EFCC is trying to discover by visiting and chatting with Soyinka. He is not the only one they will visit and get input from.

zinachidi:
A London Court has registered a judgement delivered by a Nigerian court against the military following the bombardment of the Gbaramatu communities in Delta State by the Joint Military Task Force operating in the state in May 2009.
Justice Timothy Holroyde of the Queen’s Bench Division of the Royal High Court of Justice England and Wales, on January 18, acceded to the request of the communities to register the judgement which ordered the federal government to pay them N99 billion damages over the attack.
He however rejected the request by the communities to register the judgement against the president of Nigeria and the attorney general of the federation and minister of justice, who were the first and second defendants in the suit.
In their request, the communities had also sought to obtain a worldwide freezing injunction against the assets of the federal government.



The Federal High Court, Asaba, Delta State, had ordered the federal government to pay the communities N99.9 billion damages for gross violation of their rights by the force then coordinated by Sarkin Yakin Bello, a retired major general.
Counsel to the communities, Selekeowei Larry, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, filed the case.
However, two years after the judgement was delivered, the federal government neither complied nor appealed against it, forcing the communities to request the London Court to register it.

Before applying to the Queen Bench Division High Court of Justice in London, to register the judgment, the communities wrote twice to the then Attorney General of the Federation, Mohammed Adoke, asking the government to comply with the judgment.
On May 5, 2009 the task force invaded Gbaramatu communities in Warri South West Local Government of Delta State killing and maiming residents and also destroying properties worth billions of naira.
They however filed a suit at the Federal High Court in Asaba on June 22, 2009 against the president, the attorney general of the federation and Mr. Bello.
In the suit, the communities also asked the court to declare the bombardment unconstitutional and a gross violation of their rights.


Delivering the judgement, Justice Ibrahim Buba said the bombardment of the communities by the military resulting in the demolition/destruction of houses, household furniture/wares, boats, canoes, domestic animals and displacement of members of the communities “is in violation of section 217 (2)(c) of the 1999 constitution and is therefore unconstitutional.”
Mr. Buba added, “That the sum of N49 billion is awarded in favour of the plaintiffs as special damages against the defendants jointly severally.
“That the sum of N50 billion is also awarded as aggravated and punitive damages against the defendants jointly and severally for the unlawful bombardment and sacking of the plaintiffs’ communities which resulted in wanton destruction of their houses, household furniture and other wares, their domestic animals, canoes, boats, sacred places, artifacts etc and which resulted in total displacement of members of the communities for minimum of three months from 15th May 2009, the effect of which was that members of the communities were living in the swampy mangrove forests in subhuman conditions while others were in a concentration camp and suffered loss of income, disease, and mental torture and the education of their children of school age was disrupted.”



lalasticlala


www.premiumtimesng.com/news/top-news/197117-london-court-registers-n99-billion-judgment-against-nigerian-military.html

What jurisdiction power does a foreign court have to issue judgement on a Nigerian Government?

modath:
The only reason Ohaneze is taking this stand is cos of his defection, which is even a totally b1tch ass move on its own!! Won't stop his prosecution....

Is Metuh now more "our son" than "Nwobodo"

&

How much did Nwobodo stole.. again?

God dash this old people sense nah !!!

You see how they repeatedly ask who he shared the money with....it doesnt prick their conscience he is a rogue, Ohanaeze is having sleepless nights that Nwobodo left them out of the loot share.

Like my friend babaloja would say, Baba lo ma pa Ibo.

So is it disposable or do you just drop it in your purse after use?

Women have beauty but zero brain. Carry plastic soaked with urine around all day long.

The day of his arrest he was in bed with one. Lmao

Book space quick....Im soon bringing a bombshell from the timeline of history.

I think this madam is going to end up like Achebe....in a lifelong exile.

I need to upgrade...my office will relocate from Idumota to Mapo.

Ohanaeze and MASSOB take note.