Today in Nigeria History – July 6, 1967, The Biafran War Begins

 

Today in Nigeria History – July 6, 1967, The Biafran War Begins

At the early hour of July 6, 1967, Nigerian federal troops launched an invasion into the secessionist Republic of Biafra, marking the formal start of the Nigerian Civil War, also known as the Biafran War. The first shots were fired during Operation UNICORD, a federal military campaign aimed at reclaiming Nsukka and Ogoja. It signaled the beginning of a brutal 30-month conflict that would claim more than a million lives and forever alter Nigeria’s post-independence history.

The war was the tragic culmination of years of political tension, ethnic suspicion, and economic disparity that had worsened since Nigeria gained independence from Britain in 1960. The new republic was founded on fragile foundations, and its early years were riddled with corruption, electoral violence, and intense rivalry among the three dominant regions (North, West, and East) each aligning closely with its major ethnic group.

Tensions exploded on January 15, 1966, when a group of young army officers, mostly of Igbo origin, led by Major Emmanuel Ifeajuna and Major Chukwuma Kaduna Nzeogwu, staged Nigeria’s first military coup. The coup resulted in the assassination of top political leaders, including Prime Minister Abubakar Tafawa Balewa, Northern Premier Sir Ahmadu Bello, and Western Premier Samuel Akintola.

Although the coup was suppressed in the West, it succeeded in the North, sparking suspicions that it was an ethnic conspiracy. In the aftermath, Major General Johnson Aguiyi-Ironsi, an Igbo, emerged as Head of State.

Six months later, a bloody counter-coup led by northern officers overthrew Ironsi. He was arrested and killed in Ibadan alongside his host, Lt. Colonel Francis Fajuyi. The new Head of State, Lt. Colonel Yakubu Gowon, took over a country already descending into chaos. What followed was an unprecedented massacre of Igbos across the Northern Region. In a span of five months, over 80,000 Igbos were allegedly slaughtered in pogroms across cities like Kano, Kaduna, and Jos. Those who survived fled southward. By late 1966, nearly 1.5 million Easterners had returned to their homeland, leaving behind businesses, homes, and entire lives.

Peace talks collapsed despite frantic diplomatic efforts. The Aburi Accord, held in Ghana in January 1967, aimed to find common ground between the Nigerian federal government and Eastern Region governor Colonel Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu, but mutual distrust and conflicting interpretations of the agreement ensured its failure. The federal government’s subsequent creation of twelve new states in May 1967, effectively dismembering the old Eastern Region, was perceived by the East as a deliberate act of provocation and marginalization.

On May 30, 1967, Colonel Ojukwu announced secession and declared the independence of the Republic of Biafra. In his words: "Having mandated me... I now proclaim Biafra an independent sovereign state."

The Nigerian government declared the secession illegal and mobilized its forces to restore the country’s unity. On July 6, 1967, federal troops crossed into Biafran territory through Nsukka and Ogoja and launched Operation UNICORD. Within days, Nsukka was captured.

Biafran forces soon launched a daring counter-offensive known as the Mid-Western Invasion, sweeping through Benin City and advancing as far as Ore, just 130 kilometers from Lagos. The advance sparked panic in the federal capital, but within weeks, the Nigerian army repelled the incursion and began pushing steadily into Biafran heartland.

The war quickly escalated into a large-scale conflict that drew international attention. Nigeria received military and diplomatic support from the Soviet Union, United Kingdom, Egypt, Algeria, and Zaire, while Biafra turned to France, Portugal, Israel, China, Tanzania, Rhodesia, and Apartheid South Africa. 

Though no major power officially recognized Biafra, the secessionist state mastered the use of global propaganda. Biafran leaders used radio broadcasts, European PR firms, and haunting images of starving children to gain sympathy worldwide.

Religion added another layer to the conflict. Biafra was overwhelmingly Christian, largely Catholic and Anglican, while the federal government drew heavily from the Muslim-majority North. This religious divide shaped foreign perception and support. International Christian organizations such as Caritas, the World Council of Churches, and the Irish Holy Ghost Fathers were instrumental in delivering relief to the besieged Biafran population.

But the most haunting aspect of the war was the starvation it unleashed. As Nigerian forces tightened their blockade, Biafra became an island of suffering. By late 1968, famine had engulfed the region. Thousands of children died daily, their bodies ravaged by kwashiorkor. Humanitarian flights from São Tomé and Gabon made nightly landings at Uli Airstrip, bringing food and medicine under the cover of darkness. Despite these efforts, more than one million people, mostly women and children, died from hunger and disease. The horror of Biafra shocked the world and directly inspired the creation of Médecins Sans Frontières (Doctors Without Borders) in 1971.

As the war dragged on, major cities and strategic strongholds fell one by one. The federal army captured Port Harcourt, cutting off Biafra’s access to the sea. The fall of Aba, Owerri, and Umuahia soon followed. By the end of 1969, Biafra was militarily and diplomatically isolated, its territory reduced to a fraction of its original size.

On January 9, 1970, Ojukwu fled into exile in Ivory Coast, handing over power to his deputy, Major General Philip Effiong. Three days later, on January 12, Effiong addressed the nation and announced that Biafra was laying down its arms and accepting Nigerian sovereignty.

On January 15, 1970, the war officially ended. General Gowon, in a national broadcast, declared a policy of “No Victor, No Vanquished” and launched a national program of Reconciliation, Rehabilitation, and Reconstruction.

Yet, post-war Nigeria was far from healed. Many Igbos returned to find their properties labeled “abandoned” and reallocated to others, particularly in Port Harcourt. The infamous 20 Pounds Policy allowed returning Easterners to withdraw only twenty pounds, regardless of the balance they had before the war. Entire families were ruined. Despite the promise of reintegration, the scars ran deep and the feeling of exclusion persisted.

The Biafran War changed Nigeria forever. It strengthened the federal center, entrenched military rule, and sowed seeds of mistrust that still echo today. But it also birthed a spirit of resilience among the Igbo people. In the years that followed, “Onye Igbo ga-adi” meaning “The Igbo shall endure” became a quiet vow of survival and rebirth.

The war left behind no victors, only survivors. 

It remains one of the darkest chapters in Nigeria’s history and a solemn reminder of the dangers of division, intolerance, and silence in the face of injustice. As we reflect on this day, let it not merely be a remembrance of war’s beginning, but a renewed call for unity founded on justice, equity, and mutual respect.

God bless the Federal Republic of Nigeria 🇳🇬