Nigerian Civil War

The Nigerian Civil War was a civil war fought between the government of Nigeria and the Republic of Biafra.

Nigerian Civil War
Part of the Cold War and the decolonisation of Africa

Biafran soldiers marching during the war[1]
Date6 July 1967 – 15 January 1970
(2 years, 6 months, 1 week and 2 days)
Location
Southeastern Nigeria
Result

Nigerian victory

  • Dissolution of the Republic of Biafra
  • Four regions of Nigeria replaced by 12 states
Belligerents
 Nigeria  Biafra
Supported by:
Supported by:
Commanders and leaders
  • C. Odumegwu Ojukwu
  • Philip Effiong
  • Albert Okonkwo
  • Victor Banjo Executed
  • Ogbugo Kalu
  • Joseph Achuzie
  • Timothy Onwuatuegwu †
  • Humphrey Chukwuka
Foreign mercenaries:
  • Sweden Carl Gustaf von Rosen
  • Rhodesia Jack Malloch
  • Poland Jan Zumbach
  • Canada Lynn Garrison
  • Belgium Marc Goosens †
  • France Roger Faulques
  • West Germany Rolf Steiner
  • South Africa Taffy Williams
Units involved
 Nigerian Armed Forces

 Biafra Armed Forces

Strength
  • 85,000[2]–150,000[3] (1967)
  • 250,000 (1968)[4]
  • 200,000[5]–250,000[3] (1970)
  • 10,000[6]–100,000[3] (1967)
  • 110,000 (1968)[7]
  • 50,000[5]–100,000[8] (1970)
Casualties and losses

45,000[5]–100,000[9][10] combatants killed

2,000,000 Biafran civilians died from famine during the Nigerian naval blockade[11]

2,000,000–4,500,000 displaced,[12] 500,000 of whom fled abroad[13]

Notes
  1. Diplomatic support, arms, and shared military intelligence
  2. Diplomatic support and arms
  3. Air support
  4. Diplomatic support
  5. France provided Biafra with arms, mercenaries, and other logistical support during the war. It also led the international movement in support of Biafran independence, although it never recognised Biafra.

References
  1. "Nigeria's Northern Elders Forum: Keeping the Igbo is Not Worth a Civil War". Council on Foreign Relations.
  2. Nkwocha, 2010: 156
  3. Karl DeRouen & U. K. Heo (2007). Civil wars of the world: Major conflicts since World War II. Tomo I. Santa Bárbara: ABC CLIO, p. 569. ISBN 978-1-85109-919-1.
  4. Biafran War. GlobalSecurity.org.
  5. Phillips, Charles, & Alan Axelrod (2005). "Nigerian-Biafran War". Encyclopedia of Wars. Tomo II. New York: Facts On File, Inc., ISBN 978-0-8160-2853-5.
  6. Dr. Onyema Nkwocha (2010). The Republic of Biafra: Once Upon a Time in Nigeria: My Story of the Biafra-Nigerian Civil War – A Struggle for Survival (1967–1970). Bloomington: AuthorHouse, p. 25. ISBN 978-1-4520-6867-1.
  7. West Africa. Londres: Afrimedia International, 1969, p. 1565. "Malnutrition affects adults less than children, half of whom have now died, reports Debrel, who also describes the reorganisation of the Biafran army after the 1968 defeats, making it a 'political' army of 110,000 men; its automatic weapons, ..."
  8. Stan Chu Ilo (2006). The Face of Africa: Looking Beyond the Shadows. Bloomington: AuthorHouse, p. 138. ISBN 978-1-4208-9705-0.
  9. Paul R. Bartrop (2012). A Biographical Encyclopedia of Contemporary Genocide. Santa Bárbara: ABC-CLIO, p. 107. ISBN 978-0-313-38679-4.
  10. Bridgette Kasuka (2012). Prominent African Leaders Since Independence. Bankole Kamara Taylor, p. 331. ISBN 978-1-4700-4358-2.
  11. Stevenson 2014, p. 314: "The mass killing during the Nigeria-Biafra War was the result of a 'deliberately imposed economic blockade on the inhabitants of Nigeria's southeastern region by the country's federal government' that led to an induced 'famine in which over two million people died of starvation and related diseases.'"
  12. Godfrey Mwakikagile (2001). Ethnic Politics in Kenya and Nigeria. Huntington: Nova Publishers, p. 176. ISBN 978-1-56072-967-9.
  13. DeRouen & Heo, 2007: 570
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