The Nigerian Civil War was between 6 July, 1967 and 15 January, 1970 as the southeastern part of Nigeria attempted to secede. This was caused by the perceived marginalization of the Igbos who dominated the southeast by the then Major General Yakubu Gowon led military government that created a new 12-state structure in May, 1967. This new structure divided the eastern region into three states, two of them dominated by non-southeastern groups and it also severed the vast majority of Igbo from the profitable coastal ports and rich oil fields that had just been discovered in the region. This exclusion of the southeasterners from power made them fear that the oil revenues would be used to benefit areas in the north and west rather than their own areas. So on 30 May, 1967, Colonel Odemugwu Ojukwu the then military governor of the Igbo-dominated southeast declared independence as the Republic of Biafra.
War began on 6 July, 1967 when the Nigerian Federal troops led by Colonel Shuwa advanced south to retake the secessionist territory. The town of Nsukka in the northern part of the southeast was captured on 14 July. The Biafrans responded with an offensive on 9 July, 1967 moving west into the Mid-Western Nigeria across the Niger river and led by Lt. Colonel Banjo. A division of Nigerian forces led by Colonel Murtala Muhammed stopped them, forced them to retreat and retook Benin City on 22 September. Then Gowon launched another offensive into Biafra south from the Niger Delta to the riverine area using the Lagos Garrison command under Colonel Benjamin Adekunle. The Federal troops were repulsed thrice as they attempted to cross the River Niger in October, many of them were killed and their tanks and equipment were destroyed.
The Federal troops then settled down to a period of a siege by blockading Biafra. Though the Nigerian marines led by Major Isaac Adaka Boro had captured the Bonny, Okrika and Port Harcourt on 26 July, and the port city of Calabar was taken on 18 October by Colonel Benjamin Adekunle led forces. Also, the Biafran capital, Enugu city was captured on 4 October. But the Biafrans continued to resist in their core Igbo heartlands. The Federal troops made little progress at the start o f 1968 until April when they launched an offensive closing in on the Biafrans. Already, the blockade on the Biafran territories was causing widespread civilian hunger and starvation. Many volunteer bodies organised blockade-breaking flights into Biafra, carrying food, medicines and sometimes weapons. There were arms-carrying aircraft that closely follows the aid aircraft, making it more difficult to distinguish between aid aircraft and military supply aircraft. The Biafrans launched in June, 1969 a desparate offensive against the Nigerians in their attempts to keep the Federal troops off-balance, through the support of foreign mercenary pilots continuing to fly in food, medical supplies and weapons. Although the Federal troops were taken off-guard by the surprise, they soon recovered and held off the Biafrans long enough for the offensive to stall out. Then the Nigerian federal forces launched one of their final offensive the Biafrans on 23 December 1969 with a major thrust by the Nigerian marines led by Colonel Olusegun Obasanjo which split the Biafran enclave into two. Another offensive was launched on 7 January, 1970 which led to the surrender of the Biafran forces on 13 January, 1970 with Ojukwu fleeing to Ivory Coast.
During the three-year war thousands of lives were lost with most deaths caused by hunger and disease.
References
"Nigeria".Encarta. Microsoft Corporation. Retrieved June-2009
"Nigeria". http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nigeria. Retrieved June-2009
