A Biafran Soldier’S Survival from the Jaws of Death: Nigerian – Biafran Civil War

By Jerome Agu Nwadike

A Biafran Soldiers Survival from the Jaws of Death: Nigeria-Biafran Civil War is a reflection of a personal experience in the battlefield and an insight about certain activities in some war theaters. Attempt was made to illustrate how Nigeria waged a war of genocide against Eastern Nigeria especially the Igbos (Biafrans). This book went further to show that the nonchalant attitude of many African countries toward the Nigeria-Biafra conflict later metamorphosed in various conflicts in many parts of Africa. The growth of Africa has been retarded by similar wars in Angola, Congo, Mozambique, Liberia, Sierra Leone, Ivory Coast, Chad, Sudan, Somalia, Uganda, Burundi, Ethiopia, Eritrea, and Rwanda. One of the objectives of this book is to lay the facts and was neither intended to evoke sentiments nor to cast aspersion on any group or individuals. It is better to learn from our past mistakes for the future progress and unity of Nigeria. Although the war has ended, some of the factors that contributed to the causes of the civil war are still there. In order to keep Nigeria as one indivisible entity, there should be concrete efforts to ensure that human rights of all Nigerians are fully protected.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: Sep 25, 2010
• ISBN: 9781453513811

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Copyright © 2010 by Jerome Agu Nwadike.

Library of Congress Control Number:  2010908109

ISBN: Hardcover    978-1-4535-1380-4

ISBN: Softcover      978-1-4535-1379-8

ISBN: Ebook             978-1-4535-1381-1

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Contents

Preface

1.    Introduction

2.    Causes of the Civil War

3.    Is the January 1966 Coup an Igbo Coup?

4.    Motivation in Joining the Army at Wartime

5.    Army Training

6.    Some Hazards at War Theaters

7.    Lost Bearing in the Battlefield for Seven Days

8.    Factors That Led to the Loss of the Civil War by Biafra

9.    The Effect of the Civil War on Easterners

10.    The End of the Civil War

11.    The Lesson of the Nigeria-Biafra Civil War

Bibliography

Preface

The Nigeria-Biafra Civil War could have been avoided if political leaders and bureaucrats had the interest of the masses at heart. The crisis and the civil war that followed inflicted untold hardship more on the masses than on those who manipulated the system for their selfish end. The Northern leaders manipulated the electoral figures as well as the census figures in order to have undue advantages over the Easterners. They have ruled the country for twenty eight yeas. That was possible not based on democratic principle but on military takeover of government by the Northerners. It was through undemocratic principle that the ruling parties in the North continued to be in power. These leaders adopted measures to enable them cart away the sources from Igbo territory to their own states at the neglect of Eastern states. The disparity in the allocation of resources by the federal government resulted in lack of funding for health care; inadequate funding for the installation and repair of dilapidated infrastructures most of which were destroyed during the civil war. Such infrastructures like electricity, good drinking water, roads, industry, health care facility, schools and others are lacking. Those that are in place are not maintained. It is the masses in Igbo land who pay the high price because they cannot afford to obtain good health care delivery system which most of their counterparts in the north, Abuja and some other cities enjoy. It is the leaders who can have access to private hospitals abroad or hospitals within Nigeria with better facilities. In most of cities in the Eastern states; you can hardly obtain steady supply of electricity and good water supply. It is the masses who suffer the most because there are none for them. The leaders and wealthy people can afford to have generators for their power supply and bore—hole for good drinking water. Most of the above amenities are provided with the tax payers money for the enjoyment by the masses in Abuja, as well as in many cities in Northern Nigeria.

A Biafran Soldier’s Survival from the Jaws of Death: Nigeria-Biafran Civil War is a reflection of my personal experience in the battlefield and an insight about certain activities in some war theaters. Attempt was made to illustrate how Nigeria waged a war of genocide against Eastern Nigeria especially the Igbos (Biafrans). This book went further to show that the nonchalant attitude of many African countries toward the Nigeria-Biafra conflict later metamorphosed in various conflicts in many parts of Africa. The growth of Africa has been retarded by similar wars in Angola, Congo, Mozambique, Liberia, Sierra Leone, Ivory Coast, Chad, Sudan, Somalia, Uganda, Burundi, Ethiopia, Eritrea, and Rwanda. One of the objectives of this book is to lay the facts and was neither intended to evoke sentiments nor to cast aspersion on any group or individuals. It is better to learn from our past mistakes for the future progress and unity of Nigeria. Although the war has ended, some of the factors that contributed to the causes of the civil war are still there. In order to keep Nigeria as one indivisible entity, there should be concrete efforts to ensure that human rights of all Nigerians are fully protected.

The second chapter focuses on some of the major causes of the conflict. The imbalance in the demarcation of Nigeria into three regions gave rise to the domination by one region over the other regions. Greed and injustice in the revenue allocation at the expense of the oil-producing area caused a lot of conflict. The political rivalry as well as religious conflicts in Nigeria contributed immensely to the cause of the war. The coup and countercoup, the perpetration of genocide against the Easterners, made the Easterners, especially the Igbo, question the rationale of their being part of Nigeria. This gave rise to the overwhelming support by Easterners to declare the Republic of Biafra so as to protect their lives.

Chapter 3 tries to answer this lingering question: Is the January 1966 coup an Igbo coup? There is a misconception that the coup was an Igbo coup because the chief coup plotter was an Igbo man from the Midwest, and the first military head of state was equally an Igbo man. The pattern of the killings gave it an ethnic connotation, but the coup plotters granted that it was not. The coup failed in Lagos, the Nigerian capital, and failed in all other regional capitals of Ibadan, Enugu, and Benin. The coup was undertaken by young junior officers of the rank of majors and captains who were motivated by the abuses and corrupt practices of the politicians, lack of security, as well as abuse of power by the ruling class. The senior military officers were against the coup. The coup was masterminded by young military officers from the East, the West, the Midwest, as well as those from the North. It failed due to lack of adequate planning, coordination, and execution. The quarter master general of the Nigerian Army colonel Arthur Unegbe, an Igbo man in charge of the armory, was shot for his refusal to hand the key of the armory to the coup plotters. Major General Ironsi later had access to the armory, armed his soldiers, and succeeded in abutting the coup. In fact, it was the Igbo who foiled the coup. The coup and Ironsi’s takeover of government were hailed all over the country. Immediately after the coup, it was branded as a Southern coup; but later, in order to obtain the support of the Yorubas, the Hausas termed it an Igbo coup and consequently unleashed one of the most heinous pogroms ever recorded in the history of Africa.

The fourth chapter focuses on my motivation in joining the army at wartime. It was better to die fighting the enemy who was bent on the extermination of the Igbo race than to live and witness our kith and kin massacred in cold blood within their own region. Self-defense is a fundamental human right to all people.

Chapter 5 gives a brief summary of my army training. The drills; mock battle; and absolute need to fight, defend, and protect ourselves and our people were stressed. Comradeship and allegiance to the country were emphasized as being paramount. There should be the willingness and eagerness to fight in spite of the uncertainties of war.

Chapter 6 gives an insight about some war hazards at some of the war theaters. The ingenuity of Biafran professionals was extremely helpful in the prosecution of the war. They were able to design, manufacture, and fabricate different kinds of weapons including bombs, armored cars, and others. Makeshift airstrips and refineries were built within a shot period of time. Biafra was able to continue the struggle for about three years because of the resourcefulness of Biafran professionals. It was a war of survival. In spite of the fact that world powers aided and abated Nigeria, Biafra was able to fight for a long period of time. During the war, some civilians were killed either in their homes, in their farms, or even in marketplaces whereas soldiers exposed to various agents of death in the battlefield in one of the bloodiest civil wars survived. It was neither through their gallantry nor through their military intelligence that they survived but rather through the mercy of the Almighty God.

Chapter 7: Lost Bearing in the Battlefield for Seven Days. This chapter gives a summary of an unsuccessful cutoff mission. I lost total contact with my own troops as well as with the enemy troops. I eventually found myself within enemy territory. I wandered inside the thick jungle for seven days without food or water. As there were other war theaters within the vicinity, I could feel the falling of mortar shells falling here and there and sound of weapons as I wandered inside the jungle. In order to survive, I ate raw cassava tubers, raw snails, and fallen palm nuts if I was lucky to pick some. At night, after being exhausted, I will climb and sit between tree branches in order to avoid being bitten by wild animals or snakes. Fears ran down my spine on hearing the command, Stop there! I dashed into the thick bush, crawled into a kind of ditch, and took cover. That was how I escaped from the jaws of death at the enemy’s checkpoint at about 3.30 AM. As Biafran troops charged enemy location and gained some ground that eventful night, I eventually flanked my own troops and got behind them. These troops were from a different division of the Biafran armed forces. Early that morning, I met some Biafran soldiers in the trench, narrated my ordeal, and was given some dry pack ration to eat and some water to drink. It was from here I was taken to my battalion field headquarters.

Chapter 8 addresses some of the factors that led to the loss of the war by Easterners. Hunger and disease due to economic, naval, and air blockade played major roles as food-producing areas were cut off by advancing troops, giving rise to shortage of food, medicine, and ammunition. Supplies could be brought in only by night airlifts. Estimates of mortality ranged from five hundred thousand to several millions. Many Easterners were murdered in cold blood while thousands of kwashiorkor babies were airlifted abroad for safety. Biafra did not lose the war because Nigeria fought better. She lost the war because of the tremendous assistance Nigeria received from Britain, Soviet Union, France, and other world powers. The failure of world powers to intercede in the cause of genocide being perpetrated against Biafra contributed to the loss of the war. If the zeal with which Biafran troops crossed the Niger and went as far as Ore, just 130 miles east of the Nigerian capital Lagos, if that zeal was maintained, the outcome of the war could have been different. The role of saboteurs and infiltrators caused serious military setback for Biafra.

Chapter 9 gives a gist of what the Igbo went through during and at the end of the thirty-month civil war. The economy of Easterners was shattered; their homes and infrastructures were devastated. In order to destabilize their economic well-being, each person was given merely twenty Nigerian pounds regardless of the amount of money he or she might have in Nigerian bank. In order to survive, people sold their precious jewelry and other valuables so as to get Nigerian money in order to purchase basic needs. The timing of the indigenization decree was purposely made so that the enterprising Igbo businessmen could not be able to benefit from the multinational companies acquired by Nigerian indigenes. International relief organizations did a lot to ease the sufferings of the people by the supply of food and medicine to the war-ravaged areas. The Easterners were traumatized because of the maltreatment unleashed on them by the undisciplined Nigerian soldiers at the end of the conflict. Many years after the end of the conflict, most of lofty promises made to them by the then head of state were not fulfilled. Most of the roads in Eastern states are in a state of disrepair. There is disparity in the allocation of resources in the Eastern states as compared with those in other states in Nigeria. It is incomprehensible that disabled veterans of Biafra were neglected and not rehabilitated as those who fought on the side of Nigeria. Some of the landed properties belonging to the Igbo