War on civilians in Umuahia (Biafra)

On May 30th 1967, the former Biafran Head of State, General Chukwuemeka Odumegwu-Ojukwu, acted on Biafran people’s mandate to declare the independent Republic of Biafra. It was followed by Nigeria’s aggressive declaration of war against Biafra in what later became known as the Biafran War. There was an international conspiracy to blockade Biafra on land, sea and air. Cameroon, our next door neighbour helped Nigeria to seal off Biafra’s sea corridor, as well as the Ekoi, Ijaw and Ogoni dining with the devil. While Britain, Soviet Union and Arab countries supplied Nigeria latest ammunitions, fighter planes MiG17, Ilyushin Il-28 bombers and experienced pilots to reduce Biafra to debris and permanently halt the movement of every living thing. They bombed us in public places – markets, schools, churches, hospitals, wherever people congregated, and private homes.   Although the situation produced the worst humanitarian disaster the world has ever seen, with hunger, starvation and malnutrition killing tens of thousands who were lucky to escape the aggravated military onslaught, the ill-equipped Biafran soldiers fought back, gallantly, teaching the enemy unforgettable lessons for three years.

The Biafran War took the lives of between 3.1 million and 3.5 million Biafran people, made up of toddlers, young people, boys, girls, men, women, fathers, mothers, the elderly, whole families, professionals, academics, entrepreneurs, and so forth. The future of a nation. Almost every family was affected in one way or another.
That figure is about the combined populations of Gabon and Equatorial Guinea.
Gabon’s population is 1,672,000 and Equatorial Guinea’s is 1,622,000 people.  Both totalling 3,294,000 (three million, two hundred and ninety-four thousand).
What this means is that the equivalent population of two African countries was totally wiped out in Biafra! Just reflect on this.

Trinidad and Tobago’s population is 1,328,019, Estonia’s is 1,311,870, and Mauritius’ is 1,250,000. All three populations added together are: 3, 789,889 (three million, seven hundred and eighty-nine thousand, and eight hundred and eighty-nine).
What this translates to is that the equivalence of three countries of the world’s populations was roughly decimated in Biafra!

It is also the combined populations of 13 countries of the world – Bahamas 351,461; Belize 349, 728; Iceland 326,340; Maldives 317,280; Barbados 285,000; French Polynesia 268,270; Vanuatu 264,652; New Caledonia 258,958; French Guiana 237,549; Mayotte 212,645; Samoa 187, 820; Saint Lucia 180,000, São Tomé and Príncipe 187, 356. These thirteen countries have a total of 3,427,059 (three million, four hundred and twenty-seven thousand, and fifty-nine people).
Imagine the extermination of the inhabitants of thirteen countries of the world! Let’s just reflect on this for a while...
Would the world ever keep silent for 13 countries, or 3 countries, or 2 countries to be wiped off the map for any reason whatsoever?
The answer is NO!
Would Britain and America ever keep quiet under any guise for 13 countries, or 3 countries, or 2 countries to be wiped off the map?
The answer is also NO!
But the world kept silent as three and half million Biafrans were decimated...the equivalence of thirteen known countries. Even as it happened, the world did not raise a finger against that genocide. The world failed us.
Britain wrote the script of that genocide, executed it, sustained it by propaganda and became its backbone, while America kept quiet! Why? Because it was in British government’s national interest to have 3.5 million Biafrans dead in the most horrific ways, and no questions asked.

As Biafrans all over the world commemorate the 47th anniversary of the reassertion of Biafra’s independence, our independence which was interrupted by Frederick Lugard’s ill-fated colonial experiment in Sub-Saharan Africa in 1914, we pause to REMEMBER THE FALLEN HEROES OF BIAFRA!!!
Their ultimate sacrifice will fuel Biafra’s continual resistance to the occupation of every inch of our territory by Hausa-Fulani oligarchy, typified by Nigeria and its allies.
The world must know that Biafrans do not want anything short of FREEDOM!

We remember the Biafran War dead – the raped women and their daughters, the malnourished children who became so feeble that they could not hold on any longer, the aged men and women whose sons were brutally shot dead in their very eyes, the young men who stood in the gap in defence of their people and land from aggression, but paid the supreme sacrifice. We remember those family breadwinners who answered the patriotic call, and were never seen again by their families and communities. We remember all those Biafran fathers and their sons who were rounded up by the enemy and ordered to surrender. In spite of surrendering, they were all shot in cold blood. What about those who were assured that the war was over, but were still shot? We remember you, and you, the Biafran prisoners of war who begged for your lives, but ended up being shot to death as the international press watched on.
Your extant will is sweet freedom for your people. We give you twenty-one gun salutes! May your precious souls perfectly rest peacefully in the bosom of the Lord, brave comrades. But when will the world hold the culprits whose bloody hands are becoming bloodier accountable for your ill-treatments which are branded crimes against humanity?

All rights reserved @ George C E Enyoazu.