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'{{short description|Former secessionist state in Nigeria}} {{Use British English|date=May 2012}} {{Use dmy dates|date=August 2017}} {{coord|6|27|N|7|30|E|source:kolossus-svwiki|display=title}} {{Infobox former country |native_name = |conventional_long_name = Republic of Biafra |common_name = Biafra |era = the [[Cold War]] and [[decolonisation of Africa]] |status = Subsumed state |government_type = Republic <!-- Rise and fall, events, years and dates --> <!-- only fill in the start/end event entry if a specific article exists. Don't just say "abolition" or "declaration" --> |date_start = 30 May |year_start = 1967 |event_end = Rejoins Federal Nigeria |date_end = 15 January |year_end = 1970 <!-- Flag navigation: Preceding and succeeding entities p1 to p5 and s1 to s5 --> |p1 = Nigeria |flag_p1 = Flag of Nigeria.svg |s1 = Nigeria |flag_s1 = Flag of Nigeria.svg |image_flag = Flag of Biafra.svg |image_coat = Coat of arms of Biafra.svg |image_map = Biafra in its region.svg |image_map_alt = |image_map_caption = The Republic of Biafra in red |image_map2 = Biafra independent state map-en.svg |image_map2_alt = |image_map2_caption = Republic of Biafra in May 1967 |capital = [[Enugu]] (1967)<br>[[Umuahia]] (1967–1969)<br>[[Owerri]] (1969–1970) <br> [[Awka]] (1970) |largest_city = [[Onitsha]] |national_motto = "Peace, Unity, and Freedom." |national_anthem = "[[Land of the Rising Sun (national anthem)|Land of the Rising Sun]]" |common_languages = [[English language|English]], [[Igbo language|Igbo]], [[Ibibio language|Ibibio]], [[Ijaw language|Ijaw]], [[Efik language|Efik]], [[Ekoid languages|Ejagham]] |religion = |demonym = Biafran |currency = [[Biafran pound]] <!-- Titles and names of the first and last leaders and their deputies --> |leader1 = [[C. Odumegwu Ojukwu]] |leader2 = [[Philip Effiong]] |year_leader1 = 1967–1970 |year_leader2 = 1970–1970 |title_leader = [[List of heads of state of Biafra|President]] |deputy1 = <!-- Name of prime minister --> |year_deputy1 = <!-- Years served --> |title_deputy = <!-- Default: "Prime minister" --> <!-- Legislature --> |legislature = <!-- Name of legislature --> |house1 = <!-- Name of first chamber --> |type_house1 = <!-- Default: "Upper house" --> |house2 = <!-- Name of second chamber --> |type_house2 = <!-- Default: "Lower house" --> <!-- Area and population of a given year --> |stat_year1 = 1967 |stat_area1 = 77306<ref name="land"/> |stat_pop1 = 13,500,000<ref name="land"/> |stat_year2 = |stat_area2 = |stat_pop2 = |footnotes = }} '''Biafra''', officially the '''Republic of Biafra''', was a secessionist state in [[West Africa]] that existed from May&nbsp;1967 to January&nbsp;1970 during the [[Nigerian Civil War]].<ref>{{Cite book|last=Daly|first=Samuel Fury Childs|url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/history-of-the-republic-of-biafra/59377D443F078E195F366F5D1BCB31B9|title=A History of the Republic of Biafra: Law, Crime, and the Nigerian Civil War|date=2020|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-1-108-84076-7|location=Cambridge|doi=10.1017/9781108887748}}</ref> Its territory consisted of the [[Eastern Region, Nigeria|Eastern Region]] of [[Nigeria]]. After Biafra's declaration of independence, Nigeria declared war on the nascent state, defeating them in the [[Nigerian Civil War]] and reuniting the two states. Biafra was formally recognized by [[Gabon]], [[Duvalier_dynasty|Haiti]], [[Ivory Coast]], [[Tanzania]], and [[Zambia]]. Other nations, which did not give official recognition but provided support and assistance to Biafra, included [[France]], [[Spain]], [[Portugal]], [[Norway]], [[Rhodesia]], [[Republic of South Africa|South Africa]], and [[Vatican City]].{{efn|See [[Nigerian Civil War#International involvement]]}} Biafra received aid from [[non-state actor]]s, including Joint Church Aid, [[Holy Ghost Fathers]] of Ireland,<ref>{{cite web |last=McCormack |first=Fergus |date=4 December 2016 |series=Would you believe? |title=Flights of angels |publisher=[[RTÉ]] Press Centre |url=https://presspack.rte.ie/2016/12/04/would-you-believe-flights-of-angels |access-date=22 January 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180123072202/https://presspack.rte.ie/2016/12/04/would-you-believe-flights-of-angels/ |archive-date=23 January 2018 |url-status=dead |df=dmy-all }}</ref> and under their direction [[Caritas International]],<ref>{{cite magazine |first=Enda |last=Staunton |date=Autumn 2000 |title=The forgotten war |magazine=[[History Ireland]] magazine |issue=3 |volume=8 |lang=en-EI |url=http://www.historyireland.com/20th-century-contemporary-history/the-forgotten-war/ |url-status=dead |access-date=22 January 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180122072543/http://www.historyireland.com/20th-century-contemporary-history/the-forgotten-war/ |archive-date=22 January 2018 |df=dmy-all }}</ref> and U.S. [[Catholic Relief Services]].<ref>{{cite journal |last=Phillips |first=James F. |year=2018 |title=Biafra at 50 and the birth of Emergency Public Health |journal=American Journal of Public Health |volume=108 |issue=6 |pages=731–733 |doi=10.2105/AJPH.2018.304420 |pmid=29741940 |pmc=5944891 |issn=0090-0036}}</ref> ''[[Médecins Sans Frontières]]'' also originated in response to the suffering. After two-and-a-half years of war, during which almost two million Biafran civilians ({{frac|3|4}} of them small children) died from starvation caused by the total [[blockade]] of the region by the Nigerian government,<ref>{{cite news |first=Dan |last=Jacos |series=Opinion |title=Lest we forget the starvation of Biafra |date=1987-08-01 |newspaper=[[The New York Times]] |issn=0362-4331 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1987/08/01/opinion/l-lest-we-forget-the-starvation-of-biafra-462487.html |access-date=2020-03-26 |lang=en-US}}</ref> Biafran forces under Nigeria's motto of "No-victor, No-vanquished" surrendered to the [[Nigerian military juntas of 1966–1979 and 1983–1998|Nigerian Federal Military Government (FMG)]]. The surrender was facilitated by the Biafran Vice President and Chief of General Staff, Major&nbsp;General [[Philip Effiong]], who assumed leadership of the Republic of Biafra after the original President, Colonel [[C. Odumegwu Ojukwu|Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu]], fled to [[Ivory Coast]].<ref>{{cite news |first=Barnaby |last=Philips |title=Biafra: Thirty years on |website=[[BBC News]] |date=13 January 2000 |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/596712.stm |url-status=live |access-date=9 March 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131215145053/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/596712.stm |archive-date=15 December 2013 |df=dmy-all}}</ref> After the surrender of Biafra, some Igbos who had fled the conflict returned to their properties but were unable to claim them back from new occupants. This became law in the Abandoned Properties Act (28&nbsp;September 1979).<ref>{{cite book |last=Mwalimu |first=Charles |title=The Nigerian Legal System |year=2005 |publisher=Peter Lang |isbn=9780820471266 |lang=en |via=Google Books |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ADV5PRO7_8AC&q=nigeria+abandoned+property+act+1979&pg=PA384}}</ref> It was purported that at the start of the civil war, Igbos withdrew their funds from Nigerian banks and converted it to the Biafran currency. After the war, bank accounts owned by Biafrans were seized and a Nigerian panel resolved to give every Igbo person with an account only 20&nbsp;pounds.<ref>{{cite news |first=Alexsa |last=Made |series=Biafra |title=Group sues FG over abandoned property, others |date=2013-01-09 |website=Vanguard News, Nigeria |lang=en-US |url=https://www.vanguardngr.com/2013/01/biafra-group-sues-fg-over-abandoned-property-others/ |access-date=2019-04-05 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130326074224/http://www.vanguardngr.com/2013/01/biafra-group-sues-fg-over-abandoned-property-others/ |archive-date=26 March 2013 |url-status=dead |df=dmy-all }}</ref> Federal projects in Biafra were also greatly reduced compared to other parts of Nigeria.<ref name=WWWN>{{cite web |title=What is wrong with Nigeria? |website=Indigenous People of Biafra USA |lang=en-US |url=https://www.ipobinusa.org/what-is-wrong-with-nigeria |access-date=2019-04-05 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190329115655/https://www.ipobinusa.org/what-is-wrong-with-nigeria |archive-date=29 March 2019 |url-status=dead |df=dmy-all }}</ref> In an Intersociety study it was found that Nigerian security forces also extorted approximately $100&nbsp;million per year from illegal roadblocks and other methods from [[Igboland]] – a cultural sub-region of Biafra in what is now southern Nigeria, causing greater mistrust of the Igbo citizenry towards the Nigerian security forces.<ref>{{cite web |title=Nigeria security forces extort N100&nbsp;billion in Southeast in three years |website=Indigenous People of Biafra USA |lang=en-US |url=https://www.ipobinusa.org/news-blog/2019/4/6/nigeria-security-forces-extort-n100-billion-in-southeast-in-three-years |access-date=2019-04-25 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190425225040/https://www.ipobinusa.org/news-blog/2019/4/6/nigeria-security-forces-extort-n100-billion-in-southeast-in-three-years |archive-date=25 April 2019 |url-status=dead}}</ref> ==History and etymology== [[File:Atlas Ortelius KB PPN369376781-006av-006br.jpg|thumb|right|Map of Africa ([[Abraham Ortelius]], 1584)]] [[File:1770 Bonne Map of West Africa (Guinea, the Bight of Benin, Congo) - Geographicus - WestAfrica-bonne-1770.jpg|thumb|right|Map of West Africa ([[Rigobert Bonne]] (Royal Cartographer of France) 1770)]] [[File:West Africa 1839 Mitchell map - Kong.jpg|thumb|right|Map of West Africa (1839); Biafra is shown in the region of "[[Lower Guinea]]"]] [[Early modern]] maps of Africa from the 15th to the 19th&nbsp;centuries, drawn from accounts written by explorers and travellers, show references to Biafra, ''Biafara'',<ref>{{cite web |title=Map of Africa from 1669 |publisher=Afriterra Foundation |website=catalog.afriterra.org |url=http://catalog.afriterra.org/viewMap.cmd?number=785 |access-date=14 March 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110724225407/http://catalog.afriterra.org/viewMap.cmd?number=785 |archive-date=24 July 2011 |url-status=dead |df=dmy-all }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Map of Africa from 1669 |publisher=Afriterra Foundation |website=catalog.afriterra.org |type=zoomMap |url=http://catalog.afriterra.org/zoomMap.cmd?number=785 |access-date=14 March 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110724225623/http://catalog.afriterra.org/zoomMap.cmd?number=785 |archive-date=24 July 2011 |url-status=dead |df=dmy-all }}</ref> and ''Biafares''.<ref>{{cite web |title=Map of North-West Africa, 1829 |publisher=University of Texas |department=U.T. Libraries |place=Texas, USA |url=http://www.lib.utexas.edu/maps/historical/africa_nw_1829.jpg |access-date=14 March 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090808111017/http://www.lib.utexas.edu/maps//historical/africa_nw_1829.jpg |archive-date=8 August 2009 |url-status=dead |df=dmy-all }}</ref> In his personal writings from his travels, a Rev. Charles W. Thomas defined the locations of islands in the Bight of Biafra as "between the parallels of [[5th meridian east|longitude 5°]] and [[9th meridian east|9°&nbsp;East]] and [[4th parallel north|latitude 4°&nbsp;North]] and [[2nd parallel south|2°&nbsp;South]]".<ref>{{cite book |last=Thomas |first=Charles W. |date=1860 |via=[[University of Michigan]] libraries |url=http://name.umdl.umich.edu/anu9136.0001.001 |title=Adventures and observations on the west coast of Africa, and its islands. Historical and descriptive sketches of Madeira, Canary, Biafra, and Cape Verd islands; their climates, inhabitants, and productions. Accounts of places, peoples, customs, trade, missionary operations, etc., on that part of the African coast lying between Tangier, Morocco, and Benguela, by Rev. Chas. W. Thomas ... with illustrations from original drawings.}}</ref> People in the region have described Biafra as the land directly adjacent to the [[Bight of Biafra]] and also an indigenous state, existing before [[Berlin Conference|European colonialism]] created such entities as Nigeria.<ref name=":0">{{cite web |title=Biafra before 1967 |website=Indigenous People of Biafra USA |lang=en-US |url=https://www.ipobinusa.org/biafra-before-1967 |access-date=2019-06-27}}</ref> ==Events leading to war== {{Main|Nigerian Civil War}} In 1960, [[Nigeria]] became independent of the [[United Kingdom]]. As with many other new African states, the borders of the country did not reflect earlier ethnic, cultural, religious, or political boundaries. Thus, the northern region of the country has a [[Islam in Nigeria|Muslim]] majority, being primarily made up of territory of the indigenous [[Sokoto Caliphate]]. The southern population is predominantly [[Christianity in Nigeria|Christian]], being primarily made up of territory of the indigenous [[Yoruba people|Yoruba]] and Igbo states in the west and east respectively. Following independence, Nigeria was demarcated primarily along ethnic lines: [[Hausa people|Hausa]] and [[Fula people|Fulani]] majority in the north, [[Yoruba people|Yoruba]] majority in the West, and [[Igbo people|Igbo]] majority in the East.<ref name="BBC1">{{cite news |first=Barnaby |last=Philips |date=13 January 2000 |title=Biafra: Thirty years on |work=[[BBC News]] |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/596712.stm |access-date=1 January 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090930041007/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/596712.stm |archive-date=30 September 2009 |url-status=live |df=dmy-all}}</ref> Ethnic tension had simmered in Nigeria during discussions of independence, but in the mid-twentieth century, ethnic and religious riots began to occur. In 1945 an ethnic riot<ref name=Plotnicov1971>{{cite journal |last=Plotnicov |first=Leonard |date=August 1971 |title=An Early Nigerian Civil Disturbance: The 1945 Hausa-Ibo riot in Jos |journal=The Journal of Modern African Studies |volume=9 |issue=2 |pages=297–305 |doi=10.1017/S0022278X00024976 |issn=1469-7777 |jstor=159448 |df=dmy-all |postscript=;}} ''also cited as'' {{issn|0022-278X}}</ref> flared up in [[Jos]] in which Hausa-Fulani people targeted Igbo people and left many dead and wounded. Police and Army units from Kaduna had to be brought in to restore order. A newspaper article describes the event: <blockquote>At Jos in 1945, a sudden and savage attack by Northerners took the Easterners completely by surprise, and before the situation could be brought under control, the bodies of Eastern women, men, and children littered the streets and their property worth thousands of pounds reduced to shambles<ref name=Plotnicov1971/></blockquote> Three hundred Igbo people died in the Jos riot.<ref name=WWWN/> In 1953 a similar riot occurred in [[Kano]] later. A decade later in 1964 and during the Western political crisis<ref>{{cite book |chapter=Crisis and Conflict in the Western Region, 1962–63 |doi=10.1007/978-1-349-08080-9_4 |title=Class, Ethnicity and Democracy in Nigeria |year=1988 |last1=Diamond |first1=Larry |pages=93–130 |isbn=978-1-349-08082-3 }}{{full citation|date=August 2020}}</ref> divided the Western Region as [[Samuel Akintola|Ladoke Akintola]] clashed with [[Obafemi Awolowo]]. Widespread reports of fraud tarnished the election's legitimacy. Westerners especially resented the political domination of the Northern People's Congress, many of whose candidates ran unopposed in the election. Violence spread throughout the country and some began to flee the North and West, some to [[Republic of Dahomey|Dahomey]]. The apparent domination of the political system by the North, and the chaos breaking out across the country, motivated elements within the military to consider decisive action. The federal government, dominated by Northern Nigeria, allowed the crisis to unfold with the intention of declaring a state of emergency and placing the Western Region under martial law. This administration of the Nigerian federal government was widely perceived to be corrupt.<ref>{{cite book |last=Njoku |first=Hilary M. |year=1987 |title=A Tragedy without Heroes: The Nigeria-Biafra war |publisher=Fourth Dimension |isbn=9789781562389 |lang=en |via=Google Books |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=R1wuAQAAIAAJ}}</ref> In January&nbsp;1966, the situation reached a breaking point. A [[1966 Nigerian coup d'état|military coup occurred]] during which a mixed but predominantly Igbo group of army officers assassinated 30&nbsp;political leaders, including Nigeria's Prime Minister, Sir&nbsp;[[Abubakar Tafawa Balewa]], and the Northern premier, Sir&nbsp;[[Ahmadu Bello]]. The four most senior officers of Northern origin were also killed. [[Nnamdi Azikiwe]], the President, of Igbo extraction, and the favored Western Region politician [[Obafemi Awolowo]] were not killed. The commander of the army, [[Johnson Aguiyi-Ironsi|General Aguiyi Ironsi]] seized power to maintain order.<ref name="Omoigui2">{{cite web |first=Nowa |last=Omoigui |title=Operation 'Aure': The northern military counter-rebellion of July&nbsp;1966 |website=Nigeria/Africa Masterweb |url=http://www.africamasterweb.com/CounterCoup.html |access-date=15 August 2008 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080723181411/http://www.africamasterweb.com/CounterCoup.html |archive-date=23 July 2008 |df=dmy-all}}</ref><ref name="Bozimo">{{cite web |first=Willy |last=Bozimo |title=Festus Samuel Okotie Eboh (1912–1966) |website=Niger Delta Congress |url=http://www.nigerdeltacongress.com/farticles/festus_samuel_okotie_eboh.htm |access-date=17 August 2008 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080516163553/http://www.nigerdeltacongress.com/farticles/festus_samuel_okotie_eboh.htm |archive-date=16 May 2008|df=dmy-all}}</ref><ref name="onlinenigeria">{{cite news |title=The last of the plotters dies |series=1966 Coup |date=20 March 2007 |website=OnlineNigeria.com |url=http://nm.onlinenigeria.com/templates/?a=9670&z=17 |access-date=18 August 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081211013857/http://nm.onlinenigeria.com/templates/?a=9670&z=17 |archive-date=11 December 2008 |url-status=dead |df=dmy-all }}</ref> In July&nbsp;1966, northern officers and army units staged a counter-coup, killing General Aguiyi Ironsi and several southern officers. The predominantly Muslim officers named a General from a small ethnic group (the Angas) in central Nigeria, General [[Yakubu Gowon|Yakubu "Jack" Gowon]], as the head of the Federal Military Government (FMG). The two coups deepened Nigeria's ethnic tensions. In September 1966, [[1966 anti-Igbo pogrom|approximately 30,000 Igbo civilians were killed in the north]], and some Northerners were killed in backlashes in eastern cities.<ref name="onwar">{{cite web |title=Nigeria 1967–1970 |series=Biafran Secession |date=16 December 2000 |website=onwar.com |department=Armed Conflict Events Database |url=http://www.onwar.com/aced/data/bravo/biafra1967.htm |access-date=15 August 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080905090002/http://www.onwar.com/aced/data/bravo/biafra1967.htm |archive-date=5 September 2008 |url-status=dead |df=dmy-all}}</ref> In January&nbsp;1967, the military leaders Gowon, [[C. Odumegwu Ojukwu|Chukwuemeka Ojukwu]] and senior police officials of each region met in [[Aburi]], Ghana and agreed on a less centralized union of regions. The Northerners were at odds with this agreement that was known as the [[Aburi Accord]]s; [[Obafemi Awolowo]], the leader of the Western Region warned that if the Eastern Region seceded, the Western Region would also, which persuaded the northerners.<ref name="onwar"/> {{Quote box|quote=Now, therefore, I, Lieutenant-Colonel Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu, Military Governor of Eastern Nigeria, by virtue of the authority, and pursuant to the principles, recited above, do hereby solemnly proclaim that the territory and region known as and called Eastern Nigeria together with her continental shelf and territorial waters shall henceforth be an independent sovereign state of the name and title of "The Republic of Biafra".|source=[[Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu]]<ref>{{cite web |author-link=Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu |first=C.O. |last=Ojukwu |title=Ojukwu's ''Declaration of Biafra'' speech |website=Citizens for Nigeria |url=http://www.citizensfornigeria.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=52&Itemid=63 |access-date=15 August 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081211171325/http://www.citizensfornigeria.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=52&Itemid=63 |archive-date=11 December 2008 |url-status=dead |df=dmy-all}}</ref>|width=420px}} After returning to Nigeria, the federal government reneged on the agreement and unilaterally declared the creation of several new states including some that [[Gerrymandering|gerrymandered]] the Igbos in Biafra. On 26&nbsp;May the Ojukwu decreed to secede from Nigeria; after consultations with community leaders from across the Eastern Region. Four days later, Ojukwu unilaterally declared the independence of the Republic of Biafra, citing the Igbos killed in the post-coup violence as reasons for the declaration of independence.<ref name="BBC1"/><ref name="onwar"/><ref>{{cite web |title = Republic of Biafra is born |series = Biafra Spotlight |publisher = Library of Congress Africa Pamphlet Collection |via = Flickr |access-date = 11 May 2014 |url = https://www.flickr.com/photos/pohick2/13969882488/in/set-72157644200924229 }}</ref> It is believed this was one of the major factors that sparked the war.<ref>{{cite news |title=Nigeria buries ex-Biafra leader |series=World News / Africa |date=2012-03-02 |work=BBC News |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-17230673 |access-date=2017-09-21 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180618230633/https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-17230673 |archive-date=18 June 2018|url-status=live |df=dmy-all}}</ref> The large amount of oil in the region also created conflict, as oil was already becoming a major component of the Nigerian economy.<ref name="AU">{{cite web |title=ICE Case Studies |series=TED |date=November 1997 |publisher=American University |url=http://www.american.edu/ted/ice/biafra.htm |access-date=16 August 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080827020132/http://www.american.edu/ted/ice/biafra.htm |archive-date=27 August 2008 |url-status=live |df=dmy-all}}</ref> Biafra was ill-equipped for war, with fewer army personnel and less equipment than the Nigerian military, but had advantages over the Nigerian state as they were fighting in their homeland and had the support of most Biafrans.<ref name="Omoigui">{{cite web |first=Nowa |last=Omoigui |date=3 October 2007 |title=Nigerian Civil War file |website=dawodu.com |url=http://www.dawodu.com/omoigui24.htm |access-date=27 October 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070928010636/http://www.dawodu.com/omoigui24.htm |archive-date=28 September 2007 |url-status=dead }}</ref> The FMG attacked Biafra on 6&nbsp;July 1967. Nigeria's initial efforts were unsuccessful; the Biafrans successfully launched their own offensive, and expansion efforts; occupying areas in the [[Mid-Western Region, Nigeria|mid-Western Region]] in August&nbsp;1967. By October&nbsp;1967, the FMG had regained the land after intense fighting.<ref name="onwar"/><ref name="BBC.On This Day">{{cite news |work=[[BBC News]] |series=On this Day |title=30 June |date=30 June 1969 |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/june/30/newsid_3733000/3733321.stm |access-date=1 January 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090612035938/http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/june/30/newsid_3733000/3733321.stm |archive-date=12 June 2009 |url-status=live |df=dmy-all}}</ref> In September&nbsp;1968, the federal army planned what Gowon described as the "final offensive". Initially, the final offensive was neutralised by Biafran troops. In the latter stages, a Southern FMG offensive managed to break through the fierce resistance.<ref name="onwar"/> ==Geography== [[File:Biafra sat.png|thumb|left|A satellite image of the former Republic of Biafra]] The Republic of Biafra comprised over {{convert|29848|sqmi|km2}} of land,<ref name="land">{{cite book |first=James |last=Minahan |year=2002 |title=Encyclopedia of the Stateless Nations |volume=S-Z |page=762 |publisher=Greenwood Publishing Group |isbn=978-0-313-32384-3 |via=Google Books |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=K94wQ9MF2JsC&pg=PA762}}</ref> with terrestrial borders shared with [[Nigeria]] to the north and west, and with [[Cameroon]] to the east. Its coast was on the [[Gulf of Guinea]] of the [[South Atlantic Ocean]] in the south. The country's northeast bordered the [[Benue Hills]] and mountains that lead to Cameroon. Three major rivers flow from Biafra into the Gulf of Guinea: the [[Imo River]], the [[Cross River (Nigeria)|Cross River]] and the [[Niger River]].<ref> {{cite encyclopedia |encyclopedia=Britannica |title=Nigeria |access-date=17 August 2008 |url=http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/414840/Nigeria#tab=active~checked%2Citems~checked&title=Nigeria%20--%20Britannica%20Online%20Encyclopedia |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080630061900/http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/414840/Nigeria |archive-date=30 June 2008 |url-status=live}} </ref> The territory of the Republic of Biafra is covered nowadays by the reorganized [[States of Nigeria|Nigerian states]] of [[Ebonyi State|Ebonyi]], [[Enugu State|Enugu]], [[Anambra State|Anambra]], [[Imo State|Imo]] and [[Abia State|Abia]]. While the Igbo people of the current Nigerian state of [[Delta State (Nigeria)|Delta]] were not included in Biafra as per Ojukwu's decree founding Biafra, Igbo nationalists amongst the few Igbos in Delta did fight on the Biafran side. ==Languages== The languages of Biafra were [[Igbo language|Igbo]], Anaang, Efik, Ibibio, Ogoni, and Ijaw, among others.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://ilc.igbonet.com |title=Introduction to the Igbo Language |first=Ònyémà |last=Nwázùé |website=Igbonet.com |access-date=18 August 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080818233339/http://ilc.igbonet.com/ |archive-date=18 August 2008 |url-status=dead }}</ref> However, [[English language|English]] was used as the [[official language|national language.]] ==Politics== The Republic of Biafra was a unitary republic administered under emergency measures. It consisted of an executive branch, in the form of Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu, and a judicial branch in the form of the Ministry of Justice.<ref>{{cite book |last=Daly |first=Samuel Fury Childs |year=2020 |title=A History of the Republic of Biafra: Law, Crime, and the Nigerian Civil War |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-1-108-84076-7}}</ref> Its legal system was based on the English Common Law. ==Economy== An early institution created by the Biafran government was the Bank of Biafra, accomplished under "Decree No.&nbsp;3 of 1967".<ref name="banknotes">{{cite journal |last=Symes |first=Peter |year=1997 |title=The bank notes of Biafra |journal=International Bank Note Society Journal |volume=36 |issue=4 |url=http://www.pjsymes.com.au/articles/biafra.htm |access-date=17 August 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080827224301/http://www.pjsymes.com.au/articles/biafra.htm |archive-date= 27 August 2008 |url-status=live}}</ref> The bank carried out all central banking functions including the administration of foreign exchange and the management of the public debt of the Republic.<ref name="banknotes"/> The bank was administered by a governor and four directors; the first governor, who signed on bank notes, was [[Sylvester Ugoh]].<ref>{{cite web |last=Ivwurie |first=Dafe |url=http://allafrica.com/stories/201102280439.html |title=Nigeria: The men who may be President (1) |website=AllAfrica.com |date=25 February 2011 |access-date=22 May 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131214123657/http://allafrica.com/stories/201102280439.html |archive-date=14 December 2013 |url-status=live |df=dmy-all}}</ref> A second decree, "Decree No.&nbsp;4 of 1967", modified the Banking Act of the Federal Republic of Nigeria for the Republic of Biafra.<ref name="banknotes"/> The bank was first located in Enugu, but due to the ongoing war, it was relocated several times.<ref name="banknotes"/> Biafra attempted to finance the war through foreign exchange. After Nigeria announced its currency would no longer be legal tender (to make way for a new currency), this effort increased. After the announcement, tons of Nigerian bank notes were transported in an effort to acquire foreign exchange. The currency of Biafra had been the Nigerian pound until the Bank of Biafra started printing out its own notes, the [[Biafran pound]].<ref name="banknotes"/> The new currency went public on 28&nbsp;January 1968, and the Nigerian pound was not accepted as an exchange unit.<ref name="banknotes"/> The first issue of the bank notes included only 5&nbsp;shillings notes and 1&nbsp;pound notes. The Bank of Nigeria exchanged only 30&nbsp;pounds for an individual and 300&nbsp;pounds for enterprises in the second half of 1968.<ref name="banknotes"/> In 1969 new notes were introduced: [[pound (currency)|£]]10, £5, £1, 10[[Shilling|/-]] and 5/-.<ref name="banknotes"/> It is estimated that a total of £115–140&nbsp;million Biafran pounds were in circulation by the end of the conflict, with a population of about 14&nbsp;million, approximately £10&nbsp;per person.<ref name="banknotes"/> ==Military== {{main|Biafran Armed Forces}} [[File:Roundel of Biafra (1967–1970).svg|thumb|[[Roundel]] of the Biafran Air Force.]] [[File:ASC Leiden - Rietveld Collection - Nigeria 1970 - 1973 - 01 - 093 New Nigerian newspaper page 7 January 1970. End of the Nigerian civil war with Biafra.jpg|thumb|New Nigerian newspaper page, 7&nbsp;January 1970. End of the Nigerian civil war with Biafra. "Owerri is now captured. Ojukwu flees his enclave." Photographs of the military Obasanjo, Jallo, Bissalo, Gowon.]] At the beginning of the war Biafra had 3,000&nbsp;soldiers, but at the end of the war, the soldiers totalled 30,000.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.canit.se/~griffon/aviation/text/biafra.htm |title=Operation Biafra Babies |website=canit.se |access-date=19 August 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081014013306/http://www.canit.se/~griffon/aviation/text/biafra.htm |archive-date=14 October 2008 |url-status=dead |df=dmy-all}}</ref> There was no official support for the Biafran Army by any other nation throughout the war, although arms were clandestinely acquired. Because of the lack of official support, the Biafrans manufactured many of their weapons locally. Europeans served in the Biafran cause; German-born [[Rolf Steiner]] was a lieutenant colonel assigned to the 4th&nbsp;Commando Brigade and Welshman [[Taffy Williams]] served as a Major until the very end of the conflict.<ref>{{cite book |last=Steiner |first=Rolf |year=1978 |title=The Last Adventurer |place=Boston, MA |publisher=Little, Brown}}</ref> A special guerrilla unit, the Biafran Organization of Freedom Fighters, was established, designed to emulate the insurrectionist guerilla forces of the [[Viet Cong]] in the [[Vietnam War|American – Vietnamese War]], targeting Nigerian Federal Army supply lines and forcing them to shift forces to internal security efforts.<ref name="auto">{{cite book |last=Jowett |first=Philip |year=2016 |title=Modern African Wars (5): The Nigerian-Biafran War 1967–70 |publisher=[[Osprey Publishing|Osprey Press]] |location=Oxford |isbn=978-1472816092}}</ref> The Biafrans managed to set up a small yet effective air force. The BAF commander was [[Poland|Polish]] [[World War II]] ace [[Jan Zumbach]]. Early inventory included four [[World War II]] American bombers: two [[B-25 Mitchell]]s, two [[B-26 Invader]]s (Douglas A-26) (one piloted by Zumbach),<ref>{{cite web |first=Michael |last=Robson |title=The Douglas A/B-26 Invader – Biafran Invaders |url=http://vectaris.net/id307.html |website=Vectaris.net |access-date=2013-02-15 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130509094109/http://vectaris.net/id307.html |archive-date=9 May 2013 |df=dmy-all}}</ref> a converted Douglas [[DC-3]]<ref>{{cite book |last=Jowett |first=Philip |year=2016 |title=Modern African Wars (5): The Nigerian-Biafran War 1967–70 |page=18 |publisher=[[Osprey Publishing|Osprey Press]] |location=Oxford |isbn=978-1472816092}}</ref> and one British [[de Havilland Dove]].<ref>{{cite book |last=Venter |first= Al J. |year=2015 |title=Biafra's War 1967-1970: A tribal conflict in Nigeria that left a million dead |publisher=Helion & Company |isbn=978-1-910294-69-7 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Qv4sDwAAQBAJ|page=137}}</ref> In 1968 the [[Sweden|Swedish]] pilot [[Carl Gustaf von Rosen]] suggested the MiniCOIN project to General Ojukwu. By early 1969, Biafra had assembled five [[Malmö MFI-9|MFI-9B]]s in neighbouring [[Gabon]], calling them the "Biafra Babies". They were painted in green camouflage and armed with two Matra Type&nbsp;122 rocket pods, each being able to carry six 68&nbsp;mm SNEB anti-armour rockets under each wing and had Swedish [[WW2]] reflex sights from old [[FFVS J 22]]s.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.ordendebatalla.org/blog/2015/10/01/los-minicoin-en-biafra/ |title=Biafra Babies |website=ordendebatalla.org |type=blog |date=October 2015 |access-date=22 April 2019 |archive-date=22 April 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190422022933/http://www.ordendebatalla.org/blog/2015/10/01/los-minicoin-en-biafra/ |url-status=dead }}</ref> The six airplanes were flown by three Swedish pilots and three Biafran pilots. In September&nbsp;1969, Biafra acquired four ex-French [[North American T-6 Texan|North American T-6 Texans (T-6G)]], which were flown to Biafra the following month, with another aircraft lost on the ferry flight. These aircraft flew missions until January&nbsp;1970 and were flown by [[Portugal|Portuguese]] ex-military pilots.<ref name="Air Enthusiast">{{cite magazine |magazine=Air Enthusiast |number=65 |date=September–October 1996 |pages=40–47 |last=Vidal |first=Joao M. |title=Texans in Biafra T-6Gs in use in the Nigerian Civil War}}</ref> Biafra also had a small improvised navy, but it never gained the success that their air force did. It was headquartered in Kidney Island, [[Port Harcourt]], and commanded by Winifred Anuku. The Biafran Navy was made up of captured craft, converted tugs, and armor-reinforced civilian vessels armed with machine guns or captured [[6-pounder gun]]s. It mainly operated in the [[Niger Delta|Niger River delta]] and along the [[Niger River]].<ref name="auto"/> ==Legacy== [[File:Starved girl.jpg|left|thumb|upright|A child suffering the effects of severe hunger and [[Kwashiorkor|malnutrition]] during the Nigerian blockade]] The international humanitarian organisation [[Médecins Sans Frontières]] originated in response to the suffering in Biafra.<ref name=MSF>{{cite web |title=Founding of Médecins Sans Frontières |url=http://www.doctorswithoutborders.org/founding-msf |publisher=Doctors without borders |access-date=21 December 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151220204557/http://www.doctorswithoutborders.org/founding-msf |archive-date=20 December 2015 |url-status=dead |df=dmy-all }}</ref> During the crisis, [[France|French]] medical volunteers, in addition to Biafran health workers and hospitals, were subjected to attacks by the Nigerian army and witnessed civilians being murdered and starved by the blockading forces. French doctor [[Bernard Kouchner]] also witnessed these events, particularly the huge number of starving children, and, when he returned to [[France]], he publicly criticised the Nigerian government and the [[International Red Cross|Red Cross]] for their seemingly complicit behaviour. With the help of other French doctors, Kouchner put Biafra in the media spotlight and called for an international response to the situation. These doctors, led by Kouchner, concluded that a new aid organisation was needed that would ignore political/religious boundaries and prioritise the welfare of victims.<ref name="hih">{{cite book |last=Bortolotti |first=Dan |year=2004 |title=Hope in Hell: Inside the world of Doctors without Borders |publisher=Firefly Books |isbn=1-55297-865-6}}</ref> In their study ''Smallpox and its Eradication'', [[Frank Fenner|Fenner]] and colleagues describe how vaccine supply shortages during the Biafra [[smallpox]] campaign led to the development of the focal vaccination technique, later adopted worldwide by the [[World Health Organization]] of the [[United Nations]], which led to the early and cost-effective interruption of smallpox transmission in [[West Africa]] and elsewhere.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://whqlibdoc.who.int/smallpox/9241561106_chp17.pdf|title=World Health Organization|website=World Health Organization|access-date=30 November 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110818011324/http://whqlibdoc.who.int/smallpox/9241561106_chp17.pdf|archive-date=18 August 2011|url-status=dead|df=dmy-all}}</ref> In 2010, researchers from [[Karolinska Institutet]] in [[Sweden]] and [[University of Nigeria, Nsukka|University of Nigeria at Nsukka]] showed that Igbos born in Biafra during the years of the famine were of higher risk of suffering from obesity, [[hypertension]] and impaired glucose metabolism compared to controls born a short period after the famine had ended in the early 1970s. The findings are in line with the developmental origin of health and disease hypothesis suggesting that malnutrition in early life is a predisposing factor for cardiovascular diseases and diabetes later in life.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Hult |first1=Martin |last2=Tornhammar |first2=Per |last3=Ueda |first3=Peter |last4=Chima |first4=Charles |last5=Edstedt Bonamy |first5=Anna-Karin |last6=Ozumba |first6=Benjamin |last7=Norman |first7=Mikael |year=2010 |title=Hypertension, diabetes and overweight: Looming legacies of the Biafran famine |journal=PLOS ONE |volume=5 |issue=10 |pages=e13582 |doi=10.1371/journal.pone.0013582 |pmid=21042579 |pmc=2962634 |df=dmy-all}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Nigeria: Those born during Biafra famine are susceptible to obesity, study finds |date=2 November 2010 |newspaper=[[The New York Times]] |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/02/health/02global.html |url-status=live |access-date=14 February 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151007012035/http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/02/health/02global.html |archive-date=7 October 2015 |df=dmy-all}}</ref> A 2017 paper found that Biafran "women exposed to the war in their growing years exhibit reduced adult stature, increased likelihood of being overweight, earlier age at first birth, and lower educational attainment. Exposure to a primary education program mitigates impacts of war exposure on education. War-exposed men marry later and have fewer children. War exposure of mothers (but not fathers) has adverse impacts on child growth, survival, and education. Impacts vary with age of exposure. For mother and child health, the largest impacts stem from adolescent exposure."<ref>{{Cite report |last1=Akresh |first1=Richard |last2=Bhalotra |first2=Sonia |last3=Leone |first3=Marinella |last4=Osili |first4=Una O. |date=August 2017 |title=First and second generation impacts of the Biafran war |id=NBER Working Paper No.&nbsp;23721 |doi=10.3386/w23721 |url=http://www.nber.org/papers/w23721.pdf|doi-access=free }}</ref> ==Post-war events and nationalist movement of Biafra == The [[Movement for the Actualization of the Sovereign State of Biafra]] (MASSOB) emerged in 1999 as a nonviolent and Biafran nationalist group, associated with [[Igbo nationalism]]. The group enacted a "re-launch" of Biafra in [[Aba, Abia|Aba]], the commercial centre of [[Abia State]] and a major commercial centre on Igbo land.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Duruji |first1=Moses Metumara |title=Resurgent ethno-nationalism and the renewed demand for Biafra in south-east Nigeria |journal=National Identities |date=December 2012 |volume=14 |issue=4 |pages=329–350 |doi=10.1080/14608944.2012.662216 |s2cid=144289500 |url=https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/79123823.pdf |issn=1460-8944 |access-date=17 March 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190327233925/https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/79123823.pdf |archive-date=27 March 2019 |url-status=dead |df=dmy-all }}</ref> MASSOB says it is a peaceful group and advertises a 25-stage plan to achieve its goal peacefully.<ref>{{cite news |title=Dream of free Biafra revives in southeast Nigeria |first=Estelle |last=Shirbon |date=12 July 2006 |newspaper=Boston Globe |agency=Reuters |url=https://www.boston.com/news/world/africa/articles/2006/07/12/dream_of_free_biafra_revives_in_southeast_nigeria/|url-status=live |access-date=17 August 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081210092851/http://www.boston.com/news/world/africa/articles/2006/07/12/dream_of_free_biafra_revives_in_southeast_nigeria/ |archive-date=10 December 2008 |df=dmy-all}}</ref> It has two arms of government, the Biafra [[Government in Exile]] and the Biafra Shadow Government.<ref>{{cite web |title=Biafra News |date=2009-04-13 |website=Biafra.cwis.org |url=http://biafra.cwis.org/news20090413.php |url-status=dead |access-date=22 May 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101010030754/http://biafra.cwis.org/news20090413.php |archive-date=10 October 2010 |df=dmy-all}}</ref> MASSOB accuses Nigeria of marginalising Biafran people.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Heerten |first1=Lasse |last2=Moses |first2=A. Dirk |date=3 July 2014 |title=The Nigeria–Biafra war: Postcolonial conflict and the question of genocide |journal=Journal of Genocide Research |volume=16 |issue=2–3 |pages=169–203|doi=10.1080/14623528.2014.936700 |s2cid=143878825 |doi-access=free }}</ref> Since August&nbsp;1999, protests have erupted in cities across Nigeria's south-east. Though peaceful, the protesters have been routinely attacked by the Nigerian police and army, with large numbers of people reportedly killed. Many others have been injured and/or arrested.<ref>{{cite news |title=Half a century after the war, angry Biafrans are agitating again |date=28 November 2015 |magazine=[[The Economist]] |url=https://www.economist.com/news/middle-east-and-africa/21679210-half-century-after-war-angry-biafrans-are-agitating-again-go-your-own-way |url-status=live |access-date=29 November 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151129054548/http://www.economist.com/news/middle-east-and-africa/21679210-half-century-after-war-angry-biafrans-are-agitating-again-go-your-own-way |archive-date=29 November 2015 |df=dmy-all}}</ref> On 29&nbsp;May 2000, the Lagos ''[[The Guardian (Nigeria)|Guardian]]'' newspaper reported that the now ex-president [[Olusegun Obasanjo]] commuted to retirement of the dismissal of all military persons, soldiers and officers, who fought for the breakaway Republic of Biafra during Nigeria's 1967–1970 civil war. In a national broadcast, he said the decision was based on the belief that "justice must at all times be tempered with mercy".<ref>{{cite web |title=Site cidi.org |website=Iys.cidi.org |url=http://iys.cidi.org/humanitarian//irin/wafrica/00a/0021.html |url-status=dead |access-date=22 May 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120330162631/http://iys.cidi.org/humanitarian//irin/wafrica/00a/0021.html |archive-date=30 March 2012 |df=dmy-all}}</ref> In July 2006 the [[Center for World Indigenous Studies]] reported that government-sanctioned killings were taking place in the southeastern city of [[Onitsha]], because of a shoot-to-kill policy directed toward Biafrans, particularly members of the MASSOB.<ref>{{cite web |title=Emerging genocide in Nigeria |website=Cwis.org |url=http://www.cwis.org/news/index.php?newsdate=biafra1 |url-status=dead |access-date=22 May 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100127040159/http://cwis.org/news/index.php?newsdate=biafra1 |archive-date=27 January 2010 |df=dmy-all }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Chronicles of brutality in Nigeria 2000–2006 |publisher=Cwis.org |url=http://www.cwis.org/fweye/fweye-18.htm |url-status=dead |access-date=22 May 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120418195819/http://cwis.org/fweye/fweye-18.htm |archive-date=18 April 2012 |df=dmy-all}}</ref> The Nigerian federal government accuses MASSOB of violence; MASSOB's leader, Ralph Uwazuruike, was arrested in 2005 and was detained on treason charges. He has since been released and has been rearrested and released more than five times. In 2009, MASSOB leader Chief Uwazuruike launched an unrecognized "Biafran International Passport" and also launched a Biafra Plate Number in 2016 in response to persistent demand by some Biafran sympathizers in the diaspora and at home.<ref>{{cite news |title=MASSOB launches "Biafran Int'l Passport" to celebrate 10th anniversary |date=1 July 2009 |website=Vanguard News, Nigeria |url=http://www.vanguardngr.com/2009/07/01/massob-launches-biafran-intl-passport-to-celebrate-10th-anniversary/comment-page-2/ |url-status=dead |access-date=22 May 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100302120952/http://www.vanguardngr.com/2009/07/01/massob-launches-biafran-intl-passport-to-celebrate-10th-anniversary/comment-page-2/ |archive-date=2 March 2010 |df=dmy-all }}</ref> On 16&nbsp;June 2012, a Supreme Council of Elders of the Indigenous People of Biafra, another pro-Biafra organization was formed, the body is made up of some prominent persons in the Biafra region, they sued the Federal Republic of Nigeria for the right to self-determination, Debe Odumegwu Ojukwu, the eldest son of ex-President / General Ojukwu and a Lagos state-based lawyer was the lead counsel that championed the case.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://sunnewsonline.com/new/court-determines-suit-between-nigeria-biafra-on-sept-22/ |title=Court determines suit between Nigeria, Biafra on Sept 22 |date=18 July 2015|publisher=sunnewsonline.com |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150807210646/http://sunnewsonline.com/new/court-determines-suit-between-nigeria-biafra-on-sept-22/ |archive-date=7 August 2015|url-status=dead |access-date=18 August 2015 |df=dmy-all}}</ref> MASSOB leader Chief Ralph Uwazuruike established [[Radio Biafra]] in the [[United Kingdom]] in 2009, with [[Nnamdi Kanu]] as his radio director; later Kanu was said to have been dismissed from MASSOB because of accusations of supporting violence.<ref>{{cite web |title=Uwazuruike reveals why he sacked Kanu from MASSOB |date=11 January 2017 |page=29 |website=Punch Nigeria |url=https://punchng.com/kanu-ipob-supporters-fraudsters-says-uwazuruike/ |url-status=live |access-date=23 February 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190117231534/https://punchng.com/kanu-ipob-supporters-fraudsters-says-uwazuruike/ |archive-date=17 January 2019 |df=dmy-all}}</ref><ref name="Murray">{{cite news |first=Senan |last=Murray |date=3 May 2007 |website=[[BBC News]] |title=Reopening Nigeria's civil war wounds |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/6657259.stm |url-status=live |access-date=15 August 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081227212749/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/6657259.stm |archive-date=27 December 2008 |df=dmy-all}}</ref> The Nigerian Government, through its broadcasting regulators, the Broadcasting Organisation of Nigerian and Nigerian Communications Commission, has sought to clamp down on Radio Biafra with limited success. On 17&nbsp;November 2015, the Abia state police command seized an [[Indigenous People of Biafra]] radio transmitter in [[Umuahia]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Radio Biafra transmitters found&nbsp;... |date=November 2015 |website=PUO Reports |url=http://www.puoreports.com/2015/11/radio-biafra-transmitters-found-in.html%22Radi |access-date=30 November 2017}}{{dead link |date=April 2019 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Radio Biafra container with massive transmitter found in Nnamdi Kanu's village |date=17 November 2015 |website=News Rescue |url=http://newsrescue.com/radio-biafra-container-with-massive-transmitter-found-in-nnamdi-kanus-village/ |url-status=dead |access-date=23 December 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151119045137/http://newsrescue.com/radio-biafra-container-with-massive-transmitter-found-in-nnamdi-kanus-village/ |archive-date=19 November 2015 |df=dmy-all }}</ref> On 23&nbsp;December 2015, Kanu was detained and charged with charges that amounting to treason against the Nigerian state. He released on bail on 24&nbsp;April 2017 after spending more than 19&nbsp;months without trial of his treason charges.<ref>{{cite news |title=Nigeria separatist resurfaces in Israel |website=[[BBC News]] |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-45938456 |url-status=live |access-date=17 March 2019 |date=22 October 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190323051424/https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-45938456 |archive-date=23 March 2019 |df=dmy-all}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=FG files fresh treason charges against Nnamdi Kanu |website=This Day Live |url=http://www.thisdaylive.com/articles/fg-files-fresh-treason-charges-against-nnamdi-kanu/228726/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151224181940/http://www.thisdaylive.com/articles/fg-files-fresh-treason-charges-against-nnamdi-kanu/228726/ |archive-date=24 December 2015 |df=dmy-all}}</ref> Self-determination is not a crime in Nigerian law.<ref>{{cite web |title=African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights |website=Nigeria-Law.org |url=http://www.nigeria-law.org/African%20Charter%20on%20Human%20and%20Peoples%27%20Rights.htm |url-status=dead |access-date=2019-04-13 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180616062052/http://www.nigeria-law.org/African%20Charter%20on%20Human%20and%20Peoples'%20Rights.htm |archive-date=16 June 2018 |df=dmy-all }}</ref> According to the South-East Based Coalition of Human Rights Organizations, security forces under the directive of the federal government have killed 80&nbsp;members of the Indigenous People of Biafra and their supporters between 30&nbsp;August 2015 and 9&nbsp;February 2016 in a [[Killing of Pro-Biafra Protesters (2015–2016)|renewed clampdown]] on the campaign.<ref>{{cite news |title=Biafra will not stand, Buhari vows |newspaper=Vanguard News, Nigeria |date=6 March 2016 |url=http://www.vanguardngr.com/2016/03/biafra-security-forces-killed-80-ipob-members-rights-coalition/ |url-status=dead |access-date=6 March 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160307103224/http://www.vanguardngr.com/2016/03/biafra-security-forces-killed-80-ipob-members-rights-coalition/ |archive-date=7 March 2016 |df=dmy-all }}</ref> A report by [[Amnesty International]] between August&nbsp;2015 and August&nbsp;2016, at least 150 pro-Biafran activists overall were killed by Nigerian security forces, with 60 people shot in a period of two days in connection with events marking Biafran Remembrance Day.<ref>{{cite news |title=Nigeria: At least 150&nbsp;peaceful pro-Biafra activists killed in chilling crackdown |url=https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2016/11/peaceful-pro-biafra-activists-killed-in-chilling-crackdown/ |access-date=17 March 2019 |website=Amnesty International |date=24 November 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190404230749/https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2016/11/peaceful-pro-biafra-activists-killed-in-chilling-crackdown/ |archive-date=4 April 2019 |url-status=live |df=dmy-all }}</ref> The Nigerian military killed at least 17&nbsp;unarmed Biafrans in the city of [[Onitsha]] prior to a march on 30&nbsp;May 2016 commemorating the 49th anniversary of Biafra's 1967 declaration of independence.<ref name=WWWN/><ref>{{cite news |title=Amnesty accuses Nigerian army of killing at least 17 unarmed Biafran separatists |work=Reuters |date=10 June 2016 |url=https://af.reuters.com/article/nigeriaNews/idAFL8N191428?sp=true |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180111052658/https://af.reuters.com/article/nigeriaNews/idAFL8N191428?sp=true |archive-date=11 January 2018 |url-status=live |df=dmy-all}}</ref> Another group is the Biafra Nations League, formerly known as Biafra Nations Youth League, which has its operational base in [[Bakassi Peninsula]]. The group is led by Princewill Chimezie Richard, alias Prince Obuka, and Ebuta Akor Takon (not to be mistaken by its former Deputy, Ebuta Ogar Takon), the group also have a Chief of Staff and operational commander who are both natives of the [[Bakassi]], BNL have also recorded series of security clamp down especially in [[Bakassi]] where soldiers of ‘Operations Delta Safe’ apprehended the National Leader, Princewill in Ikang-Cameroon border area on 9&nbsp;November 2016 during an attempt to mobilise a protest in support of Kanu's release, he was again re-arrested by Nigeria Police Force in the same area on 16&nbsp;January 2018 along with 20 of their supporters.<ref>{{cite news |title=Troops clash with militants, pirates in Niger delta creeks |date=9 November 2016 |website=The National Online |url=https://thenationonlineng.net/troops-clash-militants-pirates-niger-delta-creeks/}}</ref> <ref>{{cite news |title=Police release arrested Biafra leader |url=https://newtelegraphonline.com/2018/01/police-release-arrested-biafra-leader/ |url-status=dead |access-date=16 December 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180801044631/https://newtelegraphonline.com/2018/01/police-release-arrested-biafra-leader/ |archive-date=1 August 2018}}</ref> <ref>{{cite news |title=Police detain Biafra Youth League leader in Calabar |website=News Express Nigeria |url=https://www.newsexpressngr.com/news/49071-Police-detains-Biafra-Youth-League-leader-in-Calabar}}</ref> Many media outlets reported that BNL is linked to the Southern Cameroons separatists, although the group confirms this, but denied involvement in violent activities in the Cameroon The Deputy Leader, Ebuta Akor Takon is an Ejagham native, a tribe in Nigerian and also in significant number in Cameroon.<ref>{{cite news |title=Biafra anglophone secession tension heightens in boarder towns |date=December 2017 |newspaper=New Telegraph Nigeria |url=https://www.newtelegraphng.com/2017/12/biafra-anglophone-secession-tension-heightens-boarder-towns/ |url-status=dead |access-date=16 December 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191216215704/https://www.newtelegraphng.com/2017/12/biafra-anglophone-secession-tension-heightens-boarder-towns/ |archive-date=16 December 2019}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Southern Cameroun joins IPOB in Biafra struggle |date=18 April 2017 |website=Sun News Online |url=https://www.sunnewsonline.com/southern-cameroun-joins-ipob-in-biafra-struggle/}}</ref> BNL, which operates more in the Gulf of Guinea, has links with Dokubo Asari, a former militant leader, about 100&nbsp;members of the group were reportedly arrested in Bayelsa during meeting with Dokubo on 18&nbsp;August 2019.<ref>{{cite news |series=Breaking news |title=Biafra National Council inauguration; police arrest 100&nbsp;Youth League members in Yenegoa |date=2019-08-17 |website=Daily Times, Nigeria |url=https://dailytimes.ng/2019/08/17/breaking-biafra-national-council-inauguration-police-arrest-100-youth-league-members-in-yenegoa/ |url-status=dead |access-date=16 December 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191216194109/https://dailytimes.ng/2019/08/17/breaking-biafra-national-council-inauguration-police-arrest-100-youth-league-members-in-yenegoa/ |archive-date=16 December 2019}}</ref> <ref>{{cite news |title=Police strikes as Asari Dokubo inaugurates Biafra National Council, arrest Biafra youths |website=News Express Nigeria |url=https://www.newsexpressngr.com/news/80909-Police-strikes-as-Asari-Dokubo-inaugurates-Biafra-National-Council-Arrests-Biafra-youths}}</ref> <ref>{{cite news |title=Biafra: Police free 100&nbsp;agitators arrested during meeting with Asari Dokubo |date=18 August 2019 |website=Daily Post, Nigeria |url=https://dailypost.ng/2019/08/18/biafra-police-free-100-agitators-arrested-meeting-asari-dokubo/}}</ref> The Incorporated Trustees of Bilie Human Rights Initiative, representing the Indigenous People of Biafra, have filed a lawsuit against the Federal Government of Nigeria and Attorney General of the Federation, seeking the actualization of the sovereign state of Biafra by legal means. The Federal High Court, Abuja has fixed 25&nbsp;February 2019 for hearing the suit.<ref>{{cite news |title=Court fixes February to hear suit seeking Biafra republic |date=30 November 2018 |website=The Guardian, Nigeria |url=https://guardian.ng/news/court-fixes-february-to-hear-suit-seeking-biafra-republic/ |url-status=dead |access-date=30 November 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181130202147/https://guardian.ng/news/court-fixes-february-to-hear-suit-seeking-biafra-republic/ |archive-date=30 November 2018 |df=dmy-all }}{{update needed|date=June 2020}}</ref> On 31 July 2020, the Movement for the Actualization of the Sovereign State of Biafra / Biafra Independence Movement (BIM-MASSOB) joined the [[Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organization]] (UNPO).<ref name=unpowelcomes5newmembers>{{cite web |title=UNPO welcomes 5&nbsp;new members! |date=3 August 2020 |website=unpo.org |publisher=[[United Nations]] (UN) |department=[[Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organization]] (UNPO) |url=https://unpo.org/article/22010 |access-date=7 August 2020}}</ref><ref name=guam>{{cite web |title=Guam: Territory to be inducted into UNPO |date=31 July 2020 |website=unpo.org |publisher=[[United Nations]] (UN) |department=[[Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organization]] (UNPO) |url=https://unpo.org/article/22015 |access-date=7 August 2020}}</ref> ==See also== * [[Insurgency in Southeastern Nigeria]] * [[Ambazonia]] * ''[[Half of a Yellow Sun]]'' by [[Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie]] * [[Pakistanization]] ==Notes== {{notelist}} ==References== {{reflist|25em}} == External links == * {{commons category inline}} * {{cite web |department=E.U. Libraries |publisher=[[Emory University]] |url=http://pid.emory.edu/ark:/25593/pqtjt |title=Republic of Biafra collection {{circa}} 1968–1970 |year=1968–1970}} {{cite web |title=Stuart A. Rose Manuscript, Archives, and Rare Book Library |url=https://rose.library.emory.edu/}} {{Biafra topics}} {{Authority control}} {{DEFAULTSORT:Biafra}} [[Category:Biafra| ]] [[Category:1967 establishments in Nigeria]] [[Category:1970 disestablishments in Nigeria]] [[Category:Former territorial entities in Africa]] [[Category:Former countries in Africa]] [[Category:Former polities of the Cold War]] [[Category:Former republics]] [[Category:Former unrecognized countries]] [[Category:History of Igboland]] [[Category:History of Nigeria]] [[Category:History of West Africa]] [[Category:Library of Congress Africa Collection related]] [[Category:Nigerian Civil War]] [[Category:Separatism in Nigeria]] [[Category:States and territories disestablished in 1970]] [[Category:States and territories established in 1967]] [[Category:Members of the Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organization]]'