On This Day in History: May 30

The Nigerian Civil War

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Few know much about the Nigerian Civil War; even many Nigerians prefer to forget it. While the world was focused on Vietnam, Biafra seceded from Nigeria, launching a war that lasted almost three years and led to millions of deaths, most of which were children.

--On This Day in History, Shit Went Down: May 30, 1967--

Tensions in Nigeria were plentiful. The Igbo people, one of the largest ethnic groups on the African continent, felt the political, cultural, religious, ethnic, and economic divides between them and the leadership centered in northern Nigeria were too vast to be mended. Nigeria had only decolonized from Britain a few years earlier; imperialism had exacerbated these divisions by separating Nigeria into three regions. It led to political parties being formed around regional and tribal lines.

The Igbo were persecuted. Nigeria being an oil-rich country, there were fights over control of its production. Prior to secession, there was a military coup followed by a countercoup. Afterward, approximately one million Igbo relocated to southeast Nigeria, and on May 30, 1967, the Republic of Biafra was declared an independent state. Four African states, as well as Haiti, recognized the new nation, and several European countries offered support.

After a period of blockade, the Nigerian military advanced into Biafra beginning on July 6, 1967. Resistance was fierce, but by 1968 the Nigerian army had surrounded Biafra, cutting off port access. The war then became a stalemate.

Battle casualties numbered approximately 100,000 dead. The surrounding of Biafra led to mass starvation, with estimates of as many as three million dead, three-quarters of them children. Despite international relief efforts, hunger was an effective, deliberate weapon used by Nigerians for winning the war. But using starvation as a tool of genocide was far from the only atrocity committed.

The Igbo were largely Catholic, whereas the Northern Nigerians were primarily Muslim. A PR campaign highlighting this generated much sympathy for Biafrans in the U.S. It also popularized the trope of using images of starving children to represent Africa. With the assistance of Britain, which got involved because it wanted to keep the cheap oil flowing, the Nigerians launched a final offensive at the end of 1969 and brought the war to a swift end.

No perpetrators were held accountable for the genocide. Rather, the government chose to sweep it under the rug with a policy of “No victor, no vanquished.” To this day, Nigeria struggles with ethnic unity, which is why there’s a national policy to forget this travesty. The country’s leaders don’t wish to remind their citizens it could happen again.

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