Young people marching in the streets of Onitsha, Asaba, Owerri, Enugu, Nsukka, Abakaliki and a few other towns and cities iin south-eastern Nigeria to commemorate the 49th anniversary of the declaration of the Republic of Biafra on Monday clashed with policemen, soldiers and other security agents who wanted to stop them.
Deaths have been reported both on the side of the demonstrators and the side of security agents. At least three policemen and soldiers were reported killed or wounded in Asaba, Delta State. MASSOB and IPOB said more than 20 of their members were killed at Nkpor in Onitsha. Hundreds of the protesters, who agitated for restoration of Biafra, were reportedly arrested across the south-east. The police said they wanted to guide the crowds through a peaceful protest, but the marchers later turned violent.
On May 30, 1967, the then military governor of Eastern Nigeria, Col. Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu, with the permission of the leaders of the region, declared the birth of Biafra.
Then head of state of Nigeria, Col. Yakubu Gowon, had preempted him and created 12 states, including East-Central State and two others from the Eastern Region, on May 27. The plan worked, as some non-Igbo Biafrans sabotaged the war efforts by fighting on the Nigeria side.
The Nigeria-Biafra war broke out on July 6, after a year and half of intermittent crises that led to the murder of several people from the Eastern Region living in the North. It’s called the pogrom. The 30-month civil war killed an estimated 2million to 5million Nigerians.
The first military coup led by Major Chukwuma Kaduna Nzeogwu had occurred on January 15, 1966. A counter-coup followed on July 29, 1966. Many prominent political and military leaders were killed during both coups.
In recent times, there have been frequent clashes between Nigeria’s security agents and groups campaigning for the restoration of Biafra. Prominent among them are MASSOB and IPOB whose leader, Nnamdi Kanu, is currently in jail and awaiting trial.
