Biafra, officially the Republic of Biafra, was a partially recognised state in West Africa that declared independence from Nigeria and existed from 1967 until 1970. Its territory consisted of the former Eastern Region of Nigeria, predominantly inhabited by the Igbo ethnic group. Biafra was established on 30 May 1967 by Igbo military officer and Eastern Region governor Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu under his presidency, following a series of ethnic tensions and military coups after Nigerian independence in 1960 that culminated in the 1966 anti-Igbo pogrom. The Nigerian military proceeded in an attempt to reclaim the territory of Biafra, resulting in the start of the Nigerian Civil War. Biafra was officially recognised by Gabon, Haiti, Ivory Coast, Tanzania, and Zambia while receiving de facto recognition and covert military support from France, Portugal, Israel, South Africa and Rhodesia. After nearly three years of war, during which around two million Biafran civilians died, president Ojukwu fled into exile in Ivory Coast as the Nigerian military approached the capital of Biafra. Philip Effiong became the second president of Biafra, and he oversaw the surrender of Biafran forces to Nigeria.
The Nigerian Civil War, also known as the Biafran War, was a civil war fought between Nigeria and the Republic of Biafra, a secessionist state which had declared its independence from Nigeria in 1967. Nigeria was led by General Yakubu Gowon, and Biafra by Lieutenant Colonel Chukwuemeka "Emeka" Odumegwu Ojukwu. The conflict resulted from political, ethnic, cultural and religious tensions which preceded the United Kingdom's formal decolonisation of Nigeria from 1960 to 1963. Immediate causes of the war in 1966 included a military coup, a counter-coup, and anti-Igbo pogroms in the Northern Region. The pogroms and the exodus of surviving Igbos from the Northern Region to the Igbo homelands in the Eastern Region led the leadership of the Eastern Region to conclude that the Nigerian federal government would not protect them and that they must protect themselves in an independent Biafra.
Umuahia is the capital city of Abia State in southeastern Nigeria. Umuahia is located along the rail road that lies between Port Harcourt to its south, and Enugu city to its north. Umuahia has a population of 359,230 according to the 2006 Nigerian census.
The Movement for the Actualization of the Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB) is a secessionist movement in Nigeria, associated with Igbo nationalism, which supports the recreation of an independent state of Biafra. It was founded in 1999 and is led by an Indian-trained lawyer Ralph Uwazuruike, with headquarters in Okwe, in the Okigwe district of Imo State.
The flag of Biafra, used by the Republic of Biafra during the Nigerian Civil War (1967–1970), consists of a horizontal tricolour of red, black, and green, charged with a golden rising sun over a golden bar. The eleven rays of the sun represent the eleven former provinces of Biafra. The rays are typically long and slender with the lowest rays being nearly horizontal and the remaining rays spread evenly between.
On 15 January 1966, rebellious soldiers carrying out a military putsch led by Kaduna Nzeogwu and 4 others, killed 22 people including the prime minister of Nigeria, many senior politicians, senior Army officers and their wives, and sentinels on protective duty. The coup plotters attacked the cities of Kaduna, Ibadan, and Lagos while also blockading the Niger and Benue River within a two-day timespan, before being overcome by loyal forces. The General Officer Commanding the Nigerian Army, Johnson Aguiyi-Ironsi, was falsely accused of having been compelled to take control of the government of a country in upheaval, inadvertently putting Nigeria's nascent democracy on hold His ascendancy to power was deemed a conspiracy by the coup plotters, who were partly Igbo and Majors from Yoruba and Hausa sub regions, to pave the way for General Aguiyi-Ironsi to be head of state of Nigeria. Consequently, the retaliatory events by Northern members of the Nigerian Army that led to deaths of many Igbo soldiers and civilians put the nation on a path that eventually led to a civil war.
Nnamdi Okwu Kanu is a British political activist known for advocating for the secession and independence of Biafra from Nigeria. He is the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), which he founded in 2012. The main aim of IPOB is to restore the defunct Republic of Biafra which existed in Nigeria's Eastern Region during the Nigerian Civil War of 1967–1970.
The Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) is a separatist group in Nigeria that aims to restore the defunct Republic of Biafra, a country which seceded from Nigeria in 1967 prior to the Nigerian Civil War and was subsequently dissolved following its defeat in 1970. Since 2021, IPOB and other Biafran separatist groups have been fighting a low-level guerilla conflict in southeastern Nigeria against the Nigerian government. The group was founded in 2012 by Nnamdi Kanu who has been the leader and Uche Mefor, who served as the deputy leader.
The 2015–2016 Killing of Biafran Protesters refers to the killing of demonstrators demanding the restoration of the sovereignty of the Republic of Biafra by Nigerian security forces, especially the Nigerian army, across the southeastern parts of Nigeria. The demonstrations were spearheaded by several separatist movements. In addition, residents of the above-mentioned region have often been subjected to conditions synonymous with those obtainable in a Police State.
The 2016Niger Delta conflict is an ongoing conflict around the Niger Delta region of Nigeria in a bid for the secession of the region, which was a part of the breakaway state of Biafra. It follows on-and-off conflict in the Christian-dominated southern Niger Delta in the preceding years, as well as an insurgency in the Muslim-dominated northeast.
The South East is the one of the six geopolitical zones of Nigeria representing both a geographic and political region of the country's inland southeast. It comprises five states – Abia, Anambra, Ebonyi, Enugu, and Imo.
Kadaria Ahmed is a Nigerian journalist, media entrepreneur, television host and the chief executive officer of RadioNow 95.3FM. She started her career at the BBC in London and has worked in print, radio, television, online and social media platforms.
The insurgency in Southeastern Nigeria is a military conflict that broke out in the city of Orlu, Imo State, Nigeria on 16 January 2021, when the Nigerian Army moved to crush the paramilitary wing of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), the Eastern Security Network (ESN). The conflict escalated after the ESN managed to repulse the initial push by the Nigerian Army, but IPOB ended the initial crisis by unilaterally withdrawing the ESN from Orlu. After a few weeks of quiet, Nigeria launched a military offensive in the area to destroy the ESN. On 19 February 2021, IPOB declared that as of the day before, a state of war existed between Nigeria and Biafra. Three weeks later, another separatist group declared the formation of a Biafran interim government which was subsequently endorsed by IPOB. Since then, the Biafran separatists have begun to form alliances with other separatist groups in Nigeria and Cameroon. Despite these developments, the separatists claimed that their militant operations were mainly aimed at defending local communities from armed herders and bandits instead of fighting the Nigerian government. In late June, IPOB leader Nnamdi Kanu was arrested by Interpol and handed over to Nigerian authorities.
The Eastern Security Network (ESN) is the paramilitary organization of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), a pro-Biafra separatist movement.
Rita Edochie is a Nigerian film actress.
The Biafra Nations League, initially known as the Biafra Nations Youth League, is a secessionist group in Nigeria's eastern region with operational headquarters in the Bakassi Peninsula. The group was established in Port Harcourt, Rivers State on 3 August 2013.
In May 2022, militants reportedly associated with IPOB, a Biafran separatist group, murdered 14 civilians in a series of attacks in Anambra State. Among the victims were a pregnant woman as well as children. The killings were part of the insurgency in Southeastern Nigeria.
Ekpa Simon Njoku, generally known as Simon Ekpa, is a Finnish politician and Biafran political activist. In 2022, while in Finland, he declared the activation of the Biafra Government In Exile (BGIE), and in 2023 declared himself the leader of the Biafra Republic Government in Exile (BRGIE).
Alphonsus Uche Okafor-Mefor also known as Uche Mefor is a British-Nigerian pro-Biafra political activist. He was the deputy director of Radio Biafra and former deputy leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) led by Nnamdi Kanu.
The Biafra Referendum, otherwise known as the Biafra self-referendum, is an ongoing self-determination poll organized and conducted by the Biafra Republic Government in Exile to determine the declaration of the restoration of Biafra, a partially recognised state in West Africa that declared independence from Nigeria and existed from 1967 until 1970.
