"Air Raid"

Nickname for Biafran Colonel Joe Achuzia, acquired during attempt to retake Okigwe in late 1968.

Ajuku soja


Nickname for Biafran troops among illiterate and semi-illiterate Nigerian soldiers. It stands for “Ojukwu’s soldier.” The term “soja” has entered mainstream use in Nigeria.

Alalaba tactics

Alalaba means “sneaking” in Hausa. Designed by then Major MJ Vatsa, it was an infantry method of tactically gaining ground on a Biafran armoured vehicle before destroying it at close quarters.

Annabelle

Operational code-name for Biafra’s Uli-Ihiala airstrip

Apollo Battalion

This was the nickname given to a 3rd Marine Commando self contained independent Divisional reserve battalion created by Colonel Obasanjo after the landing of Apollo 11 on the moon in July 1969.

It was used in a “fire brigade” role as a “special forces” raiding unit. It was, therefore, similar to Ojukwu’s “Umuahia Brigade” and may well have been inspired by it.

Araba

Araba in Hausa means to separate. The term first appeared on placards carried by rioters in Bauchi in May 1966 after promulgation of the ill-advised Unification decree #34. That is why the May riots, which quickly spread to other towns in the north, are sometimes called the araba riots.

Atomati


Nickname for “automatic weapon” among illiterate Nigerian soldiers.

Basha

Federal Nigerian nickname for temporary makeshift billets (tents) constructed for troops using zinc sheets or tarpaulin. The term survived the war and is still in use.

"Biafra Gin”


Home made Biafran Incendiary weapon produced by the Chemicals and Materials Workshop subsequently subsumed under the Research and Production (RAP) Organization. Used against federal personnel, defensive positions and armored vehicles.

'Black Eagle’


Nickname for Colonel Hubert Julian (Biafran mercenary)

'Black Jack’


Nickname for Col. Jean Schramone (Biafran mercenary)

'Black Scorpion’


Nickname conferred by foreign correspondents on Colonel Benjamin Adekunle, infamous and notorious Commander of the Federal 3rd Marine Commando Division.

"BOFF”


Acronym for Biafran Organization of Freedom Fighters. Colonel Aghanya led it.

'Boozy Bonzo Bond’


Nickname for a South African mercenary who flew jets for the Federal Nigerian AirForce, drank whiskey while flying and liked to fly his aircraft back riddled with bullet holes – as evidence.

"Bottoms”


Residue of Biafran fuel refining process which was then used as fuel oil

"The “Brave”


Nickname for Armand Iaranelli, a Corsican mercenary fighting for Biafra

Corporal Nwafor


Named after the Biafran soldier that captured it, the nickname ‘Corporal Nwafor’ was bequeathed to a federal Nigerian Army Saladin armored vehicle captured from the federal 2DIV during one of several Biafran attempts to retake Onitsha.

Exercise Damisa


Damisa is the Hausa word for “Leopard”. Code-name for the Kaduna component of the January 15, 1966 mutiny

Delfin


Czech L-29 armed fighter jet/trainer used by Federal Nigerian Air Force

"Doctor Wise”

Nickname of a Biafran spiritualist who wielded great (and controversial) influence over military operations, particularly in the latter stages of the war.

He was a kind of Rasputin for many elements of the Biafran political and military leadership.

The use of juju men and spiritualists was common to both sides during the war and remains a common practice in modern Nigeria.

"Final Offensive”

Nigeria launched many unsuccessful “final offensives” during the war until the real final offensive of December 1969/January 1970. The term became an object of scorn on Biafra radio.

'Foot cutter’

A type of home made Biafran mine that always led to amputations on feet of unsuspecting victims.

Operation “Giwa”


Giwa is the Hausa word for elephant. This so-called operation was alleged as the final act in the complete Igbo take-over of the country in 1966 after execution of Operations Damisa, Kura, and Zaki. The existence of such an operation has never been independently confirmed. Nevertheless such propaganda was widely disseminated in certain northern circles and may well have been believed.

"Genocide”

Call-sign/code-name for a South African mercenary who flew for Biafra.

Also the nickname for a home made Biafran armored vehicle used during the battles for Ikem and Obollo Eke in 1967. Federal forces destroyed it.

We would have been forty something years a country.

But nothing spoil.

"Genocide Squadron”

Biafran nickname for Federal Nigerian Air Force IL-28 Bombers, converted DC-3s and DC-4s at the Benin City Forward Air Base in the Midwest which were operated mainly by serving Egyptian, Russian and Pakistani pilots.

"Go on with One Nigeria”

Federal Nigerian wartime slogan created from the alphabets in GOWON.

'Good morning’ artillery barrage

Biafran nickname for highly predictable Federal Nigerian Army harassing artillery fire aimed at nobody in particular, usually the trees and bushes, but occurring at exactly the same times every morning. Used as an “alarm clock” by Biafran units.

'Gowon’s Boots’

Biafran nickname for swelling of both feet caused by Kwashiorkor – resulting from wartime protein malnutrition compounded by constant wearing of soaked boots.

Insightful

Great

Gwodo-Gwodo


Biafran nickname for very huge Sahelian mercenaries recruited mainly from Chad, Niger Republic and Mali by Nigerian Federal forces during the course of the war.

The Gwodo-Gwodo were implicated in numerous gross war crimes and operated under a Jihadist mentality on the hapless Christian civilian population. They were rarely engaged in military operations in retaking Biafra but as an "ethnic cleansing" and genocidal unit on Biafran towns and villages following their capture by Federal forces.