Nigerian Civil War

==War==
Shortly after extending its blockade to include oil, the Nigerian government launched a "[[police action]]" to retake the secessionist territory.<ref>Kirk-Greene, ''The Genesis of the Nigerian Civil War'' (1975), pp. 6–7.</ref> The war began on the early hours of 6 July 1967 when Nigerian Federal troops [[Operation UNICORD|advanced]] in two columns into Biafra. The Biafra strategy had succeeded: the federal government had started the war, and the East was defending itself.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Akpan|first1=Ntieyoung U.|title=The Struggle for Secession, 1966–1970: A Personal Account of the Nigerian Civil War. |publisher=Routledge |location=online |isbn=9781317792314 |pages=89–106 |edition=2nd |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9ISrAgAAQBAJ&q=Ntieyong+U.+Akpan%2C+The+Struggle+for+Secession%2C+1966%E2%80%931970%3A+A+Personal+Account+of+the+Nigerian+Civil+War.&pg=PR1 |access-date=16 November 2016 |date=2014-01-14}}</ref> The [[Nigerian Army]] offensive was through the north of Biafra led by Colonel [[Mohammed Shuwa]] and the local military units were formed as the [[1st Division (Nigeria)|1st Infantry Division]]. The division was led mostly by northern officers. After facing unexpectedly fierce resistance and high casualties, the western Nigerian column advanced on the town of [[Nsukka]], which fell on 14 July, while the eastern column made for Garkem, which was captured on 12 July.{{citation needed|date=July 2021}}

===Biafran offensive===
The Biafrans responded with an offensive of their own. On 9 August, Biafran forces crossed their western border and the Niger river into the Mid{{nbh}}Western state of Nigeria. Passing through the state capital of [[Benin City]], the Biafrans advanced west until 21 August, when they were stopped at Ore in present-day [[Ondo State]], {{convert|130|mi|4=-1|order=flip}} east of the Nigerian capital of Lagos. The Biafran attack was led by Lt. Col. Banjo, Yoruba man, with the Biafran rank of brigadier. The attack met little resistance and the Mid{{nbh}}Western state was easily taken over. This was due to the pre-secession arrangement that all soldiers should return to their regions to stop the spate of killings, in which Igbo soldiers had been major victims.<ref name="ReferenceA"/><ref>''Ethnic Politics in Kenya and Nigeria'', by Godfrey Mwakikagile, Nova Publishers, 2001.{{ISBN|1560729678}}</ref> The Nigerian soldiers who were supposed to defend the Mid{{nbh}}Western state were mostly Igbo from that state and, while some were in touch with their Biafran counterparts, others resisted the invasion. General Gowon responded by asking Colonel [[Murtala Mohammed]] (who later became head of state in 1975) to form another division (the 2nd Infantry Division) to expel the Biafrans from the Mid{{nbh}}Western state, to defend the border of the Western state and to attack Biafra. At the same time, Gowon declared "total war" and announced the Federal government would mobilise the entire population of Nigeria for the war effort.{{sfn|Stremlau|2015|p=78}} From the summer of 1967 to the spring of 1969, the Federal Army grew from a force of 7,000 to a force of 200,000 men organised in three divisions.<ref>Barua, Deprave ''The Military Effectiveness of Post-Colonial States'' (2013) pp. 10–11</ref> Biafra began the war with only 230 soldiers at [[Enugu]], which grew to two battalions by August 1967, which soon were expanded into two brigades, the 51st and 52nd which became the core of the Biafran Army.<ref name="Barua, Pradeep 2013 p.11">Barua, Pradeep ''The Military Effectiveness of Post-Colonial States'' (2013) p. 11</ref> By 1969, the Biafrans were to field 90,000 soldiers formed into five undermanned divisions together with a number of independent units.<ref name="Barua, Pradeep 2013 p.11"/>

[[File:Flag of the Republic of Benin.svg|thumb|left|Flag of the [[Republic of Benin (Nigeria)|Republic of Benin]]]]

As Nigerian forces retook the Mid{{nbh}}Western state, the Biafran military administrator declared it to be the [[Republic of Benin (1967)|Republic of Benin]] on 19 September, though it ceased to exist the next day. The present country of [[Benin]], west of Nigeria, was still named [[Republic of Dahomey|Dahomey]] at that time.<ref>{{Cite web|title=WOMEN AND THE NIGERIAN CIVIL CONFLICT|url=https://hyattractions.wordpress.com/2014/12/02/women-and-the-nigerian-civil-conflict/|date=2014-12-02|website=HYATTRACTIONS|language=en|access-date=2020-05-29}}</ref><ref>{{Citation |title=Law, Order, and the Biafran National Imagination |date=2020 |url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/history-of-the-republic-of-biafra/law-order-and-the-biafran-national-imagination/64C63FCC3FAE3D59FB2FFCA69BCE534A |work=A History of the Republic of Biafra: Law, Crime, and the Nigerian Civil War |pages=35–77 |editor-last=Daly |editor-first=Samuel Fury Childs |place=Cambridge |publisher=Cambridge University Press |doi=10.1017/9781108887748.002 |isbn=978-1-108-74391-4 |s2cid=236791532 |access-date=2022-07-09}}</ref>

Although Benin City was retaken by the Nigerians on 22 September, the Biafrans succeeded in their primary objective by tying down as many Nigerian Federal troops as they could. Gen. Gowon also launched an [[Offensive (military)|offensive]] into Biafra south from the [[Niger Delta]] to the riverine area, using the bulk of the Lagos Garrison command under Colonel [[Benjamin Adekunle]] (called the Black Scorpion) to form the 3rd Infantry Division (which was later renamed as the 3rd Marine Commando). As the war continued, the Nigerian Army recruited amongst a wider area, including the [[Yoruba people|Yoruba]], Itshekiri, Urhobo, Edo, Ijaw, etc.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Refugees |first=United Nations High Commissioner for |title=Refworld {{!}} Nigeria: The Ijaw-Itsekiri conflict in Delta State, including time period, causes, whether the authorities intervened, whether the police support the Ijaw or Itsekiri and the current situation |url=https://www.refworld.org/docid/3ae6abe720.html |access-date=2022-07-07 |website=Refworld |language=en}}</ref>

===Nigerian offensive===
The command was divided into two brigades with three battalions each. The 1st Brigade advanced on the axis of the Ogugu–Ogunga–Nsukka road while the 2nd Brigade advanced on the axis of the Gakem–Obudu–Ogoja road. By 10 July 1967, the 1st Brigade had conquered all its assigned territories. By 12 July the 2nd brigade had captured Gakem, Ogudu, and Ogoja. To assist Nigeria, Egypt sent six [[Ilyushin Il-28]] bombers flown by Egyptian air crews.<ref>Barua, Pradeep ''The Military Effectiveness of Post-Colonial States'' (2013) p. 12</ref><ref name="litencyc.com">{{Cite web|url=http://www.litencyc.com/theliterarymagazine/biafra.php|title=The Literary Magazine – the Biafra War and the Age of Pestilence by Herbert Ekwe Ekwe|access-date=16 June 2010|archive-date=20 August 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180820081648/https://www.litencyc.com/theliterarymagazine/biafra.php|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>''Shadows: Airlift and Airwar in Biafra and Nigeria 1967–1970'', by Michael I. Draper ({{ISBN|1-902109-63-5}})</ref> The habit of the Egyptians to bomb Red Cross hospitals together with schools, hospitals, and marketplaces did much to earn Biafra international sympathy.<ref>{{cite book |last=Venter |first=A.J. |title=Biafra's War 1967–1970: A Tribal Conflict in Nigeria That Left a Million Dead |year=2016 |page=139}}</ref>

[[File:Lynn Garrison in cockpit 1966.jpg|thumb|[[Lynn Garrison]] in cockpit of his F4U-7 Corsair 1966]]

Enugu became the hub of secession and rebellion, and the Nigerian government believed that once Enugu was captured, the drive for secession would end. The plans to conquer Enugu began on 12 September 1967.{{citation needed|date=April 2023}} On 4 October, the Nigerian 1st Division [[Fall of Enugu|captured Enugu]].{{sfn|Jowett|2016|p=6}} Ojukwu was asleep in the Biafran State House when the federal troops attacked and narrowly escaped by disguising himself as a servant.{{sfn|Baxter|2015|p=23}} Many Nigerians hoped that Enugu's capture would convince the Igbos' traditional elite to end their support for secession, even if Ojukwu did not follow them. This did not occur. Ojukwu relocated his government without difficulty to [[Umuahia]], a city positioned deep within traditional Igbo territory.{{sfn|Stremlau|2015|pp=97–98}} The fall of Enugu contributed to a brief destabilisation of Biafran propaganda efforts, as the forced relocation of personnel left the Ministry of Information disorganised and the federal force's success undermined previous Biafran assertions that the Nigerian state could not withstand a protracted war.{{sfn|Stremlau|2015|p=111}} On 23 October the Biafran official radio declared in a broadcast that Ojukwu promised to continue resisting the federal government, and that he attributed the loss of Enugu to subversive actions.<ref name= NYT1>{{cite news |title=Nigerian Civil War Makes Enugu a Ghost Town |newspaper=The New York Times |page=A20 |date=24 October 1967}}</ref>

Nigerian soldiers under Murtala Mohammed carried out [[Asaba massacre|a mass killing]] of 700 civilians when they captured [[Asaba, Nigeria|Asaba]] on the [[River Niger]]. The Nigerians were repulsed three times as they attempted to cross the River Niger during October, resulting in the loss of thousands of troops, dozens of tanks and equipment. The first attempt by the 2nd Infantry Division on 12 October to cross the Niger from the town of Asaba to the Biafran city of Onitsha cost the Nigerian Federal Army over 5,000 soldiers killed, wounded, captured or missing. [[Operation Tiger Claw]] (17–20 October 1967) was a military conflict between Nigerian and Biafran military forces. On 17 October 1967 Nigerians invaded [[Calabar]] led by the "Black Scorpion", Benjamin Adekunle, while the Biafrans were led by Col. Ogbu Ogi, who was responsible for controlling the area between Calabar and Opobo, and Lynn Garrison, a foreign mercenary. The Biafrans came under immediate fire from the water and the air. For the next two days Biafran stations and military supplies were bombarded by the Nigerian air force. That same day Lynn Garrison reached Calabar but came under immediate fire by federal troops. By 20 October, Garrison's forces withdrew from the battle while Col. Ogi officially surrendered to Gen. Adekunle. On 19 May 1968 Port Harcourt was captured. With the capture of Enugu, Bonny, Calabar and Port Harcourt, the outside world was left in no doubt of the Federal supremacy in the war.<ref>Al J. Vetner. “Biafra’s War 1967-1970: A Tribal Conflict That Left a Million Dead.” Warwick, UK, Helion & Company, 2015. {{ISBN|978-1-910294-69-7}}. pp. 197–210.</ref> Biafran propaganda always blamed military defeats on "saboteurs" within the ranks of the Biafran officer, and both officers and the other ranks were encouraged to denounce suspected "saboteurs".<ref name="Barua, Pradeep 2013 p. 17"/> Throughout the war, Biafran officers were far more likely to be executed by their own side than by the Federal Army as Ojukwu conducted purges and had officers who were merely accused of being "saboteurs" taken out and shot.<ref name="Barua, Pradeep 2013 p. 17-18">Barua, Pradeep ''The Military Effectiveness of Post-Colonial States'' (2013) pp. 17–18</ref> Ojukwu did not trust the majority of the former Federal Igbo officers who had rallied to Biafra and saw them as potential rivals, thus leading to murderous purges that led to most of them being executed.<ref name="Barua, Pradeep 2013 p. 17-18"/> Furthermore, Ojukwu needed scapegoats for Biafra's defeats and death was the usual punishment for Biafran officers who lost a battle.<ref name="Barua, Pradeep 2013 p. 18">Barua, Pradeep ''The Military Effectiveness of Post-Colonial States'' (2013) p. 18</ref> Out of a fear of a coup, Ojukwu created several units such as the S Brigade commanded by himself and the 4th Commando Brigade commanded by the German mercenary [[Rolf Steiner]] that existed outside of the regular chain of command.<ref name="Barua, Pradeep 2013 p. 18"/> Barua wrote that Ojukwu's leadership, especially his frequent executions of his own officers had a "disastrous impact" on the morale of the Biafran officer corps.<ref name="Barua, Pradeep 2013 p. 18"/> The executions of officers also made it difficult for the Biafran officers to acquire the necessary experience to conduct military operations successfully as Barua noted the Biafran Army lacked both the "continuity and cohesion" to learn from the war.<ref name="Barua, Pradeep 2013 p. 18"/>

===Control over oil production===
[[File:Nigerdelta NASA.jpg|200px|thumb|Control over petroleum in the [[Niger Delta]] was a paramount military objective during the war.]]

Oil exploration in Nigeria was pioneered by the Shell-BP Petroleum Development Company in 1937. In a bid to control the oil in the eastern region, the Federal government placed a shipping embargo on the territory. This embargo did not include oil tankers. The leadership of Biafra wrote to Shell-BP demanding royalties for the oil that was being explored in their region. After much deliberation, Shell-BP decided to pay Biafra the sum of 250,000 pounds. The news of this payment reached the Federal government, which immediately extended the shipping embargo to oil tankers. The Nigerian government also made it clear to Shell-BP that it expected the company to pay all outstanding oil royalties immediately. With the stalling on the payment for Biafra, the government instructed Shell-BP to stop operations in Biafra and took over from the company.<ref name="auto">{{cite journal |last1=Chibuike |first1=Uche |year=2008 |title=Oil, British Interests and the Nigerian Civil War |journal=The Journal of African History |volume=49 |issue=1 |pages=111–135 |doi=10.1017/S0021853708003393 |jstor=40206616 |s2cid=159874579 }}</ref>

Towards the end of July 1967, Nigerian federal troops and marines captured [[Bonny Island]] in the Niger Delta, thereby taking control of vital Shell-BP facilities.<ref>Uche, ''Oil, British Interests and the Nigerian Civil War'' (2008), p. 131. "Within a month of full military conflict, the Nigerian government captured the important Island of Bonny from the Biafrans. The British High Commissioner articulated the importance of this capture at the time: 'This not only tightens the grip on the blockade and gives the Federal Government a first footing in the Rivers Province; it places in their hands the most valuable part of Shell-BP installations, for the storage tanks, the pumping station and the tanker terminal are all at Bonny.' At the time of the capture, the Nigerian government claimed that the Island was taken 'without any damage' to Shell-BP's installations there."</ref> Operations began again in May 1968, when Nigeria captured [[Port Harcourt]]. Its facilities had been damaged and needed repair.<ref>Uche, "Oil, British Interests and the Nigerian Civil War" (2008), p. 132. "Despite the return of Gray, and the interest of Shell-BP and the British government in getting the oil machines pumping again, the state of war and its attendant hazards ensured that this could not happen immediately. It was not until May 1968, when Nigerian marines captured Port Harcourt, that it was adjudged safe by Shell-BP to send an advance team to both Bonny and Port Harcourt to assess the state of their production facilities."</ref> Oil production and export continued, but at a lower level. The completion in 1969 of a new terminal at [[Forçados]] brought production up from 142,000 barrels/day in 1958 to 540,000 barrels/day in 1969. In 1970, this figure doubled to 1.08 million barrels/day. The royalties enabled Nigeria to buy more weapons, hire mercenaries, etc. Biafra proved unable to compete on this economic level.<ref>Uche, "Oil, British Interests and the Nigerian Civil War" (2008), pp. 133–134. "The problem was that the oil had to be shipped through Bonny, which at the time was not safe. Furthermore, silting of the approaches to the Bonny terminal during the early parts of the war reduced its unit tanker capacity from 70,000 tons to about 40,000 tons. Even with the use of smaller tankers, the short haul from Nigeria to the United Kingdom was still more profitable than the Cape route used for Gulf oil. Despite the prospects for Eastern Region oil, the civil war made the source unreliable. Luckily for Shell-BP, prior to the war, it had planned a second terminal off Forcados, which was in Federal territory. Construction of the terminal and the pipelines, which started during the war, took 18 months and was completed in the middle of 1969."</ref>