It's 50 years since Nigeria's eastern area, known as Biafra, was briefly granted independence

Record ID: 877275

  • Title: It's 50 years since Nigeria's eastern area, known as Biafra, was briefly granted independence
  • Date: 30th May 2017
  • Summary: ENUGU, NIGERIA (2015) (REUTERS) STATUE ON STREET SHOWING FIGHTERS, ARMS RAISED VARIOUS OF STREET SCENES PEOPLE WALKING PAST VIEW OVER CITY SKYLINE
  • Embargoed: 13th June 2017 15:27
  • Keywords: Nigeria Biafra war independence Odumegwu Ojukwu Yakubu Gowon Nnamdi Kanu Enugu
  • Location: VARIOUS LOCATIONS, NIGERIA AND ABURI, GHANA
  • City: VARIOUS LOCATIONS, NIGERIA AND ABURI, GHANA
  • Country: Nigeria
  • Topics: Conflicts/War/Peace
  • Reuters ID: LVA0046J15A9Z
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: Tuesday May 30 marks 50 years since Nigeria's eastern Igbo people established the Sovereign Independent Republic of Biafra, a short-lived independent state set up by Chukwemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu.
    Nigeria gained independence from British rule in 1960. A controversial census that followed fuelled regional and ethnic tensions, leading to a military coup in 1966. Violence continued in the North, with dozens killed in demonstrations.
    A second military revolt led by Colonel Yakubu Gowon in July 1966 overthrew the previous military ruler and the federal system was formally restored.
    By then, tension had been building up for some time between the northern Hausa people and the Igbos, who come from the eastern region.
    In September 1966, more than 1,000 people -- mostly Igbos -- were killed in the north. This led to a mass exodus of Igbos back to the east, and reprisal attacks on Northerners in the east.
    Ojukwu was considered by his people to be the embodiment of the dynamism of the Igbo tribe which once supplied Nigeria with many of its officers, administrators and professional men. Confident a military conflict wouldn't last long, he led three eastern states to secede as the Republic of Biafra.
    The split sparked a civil war that lasted from 1967 to 1970, killing over one million people who lost their lives mainly due to starvation and illness rather than violence.
    A last chance meeting that took place in Aburi, Ghana, between Ojukwu and Gowon didn't manage to prevent the war.
    Most people died from hunger or disease and the conflict brought some of the first images of swollen-bellied African children starving to death to Western television screens.
    Recent years has seen a resurgence of pro-Biafran sentiment in Nigeria's east.
    People in the region, plagued by poverty and high unemployment, have felt neglected and excluded from key government posts, especially since the government of Muhammadu Buhari, a northern Muslim, came to power two years ago.
    That has led to clashes between its supporters and Nigerian security forces.
    In 2015, tensions and more calls for independence climbed after the arrest of Nnamdi Kanu, the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra, a previously little-known figure in Nigeria whose detention two years ago made him the poster-boy for the Biafran struggle.
    The arrest prompted thousands to join demonstrations calling for his release.
    He was arrested on charges relating to broadcasts by his Radio Biafra station and was granted bail in April 2017, after almost two years in detention.
    Amnesty International last year accused Nigerian security forces of killing at least 150 peaceful Biafra separatists at rallies, which the military and police denied.
    50 years after the declaration of Biafra, its supporters honour the day by closing up their businesses and staging a peaceful sit-at-home protest to avoid clashes with security agencies.
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