By 1967 the Civil War had begun in Nigeria. While the federal navy blockaded Eastern Region ports to prevent the shipment of oil, the federal army invaded the Eastern Region. By July it had taken the university town of Nsukka in the east and the market town of Ogaja in the west on a 100-mile war front. The relatively small forces on both sides were augmented by volunteers. The federal offensive halted as Biafran guerrillas struck back in confused clashes between wandering groups of ill-trained armies. Fighting the federal troops to a standstill, the Biafrans, joined by mutinous federal soldiers under Ibo officers, took the offensive and captured Benin, capital of the neighboring Midwestern Region, on August 9, thus spreading the civil war to the second of Nigeria’s four regions. Shortage of materiel bogged down both armies, while radio propaganda from both sides claimed victories. The Biafran-appointed Ibo military governor of the Midwestern Region declared its independence. Shortly thereafter, on September 20, federal troops reoccupied the Midwestern Region and with their coming the formerly tolerant Midwesterners took a heavy revenge on the half-million Ibos (20 percent of the Midwestern Region’s population) living in their midst. Ibo corpses lined town streets and country roads. The impact of the civil war in Nigeria remains one of the most devastating situations that the Nigerian state has had to deal with.
Like this:
Like Loading...
