After returning to Nigeria, the federal government reneged on the agreement and unilaterally declared the creation of several new states including some that gerrymandered the Igbos in Biafra. [65]A report byAmnesty Internationalbetween August2015 and August2016, at least 150 pro-Biafran activists overall were killed by Nigerian security forces, with 60 people shot in a period of two days in connection with events marking Biafran Remembrance Day. People from Biafra gather during a worldwide demonstration organised by the Indigenous People of Biafra in 2014, federal governments policy of giving 20 pounds. Ethnic tension had simmered in Nigeria during discussions of independence, but in the mid-twentieth century, ethnic and religious riots began to occur. The Biafra War In Nigeria: Causes, Development, And Aftermath - Knoji Gowons attempt to hold a conference to settle the constitutional future of Nigeria was abandoned after a series of ethnic massacres in October 1966. [7] It was purported that at the start of the civil war, Igbos withdrew their funds from Nigerian banks and converted it to the Biafran currency. [54][55], The Nigerian federal government accuses MASSOB of violence; MASSOBs leader, Ralph Uwazuruike, was arrested in 2005 and was detained on treason charges. Biafran War veterans remember the conflict 50 years on, "He was a gorgeous person," she said again and again. Not everything captured could be brought across the river but that which was brought back included 100,000 rounds of ammunition, 50 bicycles, 3 battery charging machines, 4 wireless sets, 2 typewriters, 300 rounds of 105mm shells, 2 anti-aircraft guns and ammunition, a few weapons and fairly large quantities of food and clothing. On 17November 2015, the Abia state police command seized anIndigenous People of Biafraradio transmitter inUmuahia. Nigerian leader Maj. Gen. Yakubu Gowon accepted the Biafran surrender and asked all Nigerians to greet the former rebels as brothers. Nigeria History: The Biafra Midwest Invasion of 1967 - NewsRescue Prince Obuka) and Ebuta Ogar Takon respectively, the Organisation also have a Chief of Staff who is a native of the Bakassi Peninsula, BNYL have also recorded a security clamp down in Bakassi Peninsula when soldiers of Operations Delta Safe apprehended Princewill in Ikang-Cameroon border area on 9November 2016 during an attempt to mobilise a protest in support of Kanus release, he was again rearrested by Nigeria Police Force in the same area on 16January 2018 along with 20 of their supporters. Muslim officers named a General from a small ethnic group (the Angas) in central Nigeria, General Yakubu "Jack" Gowon, as the head of the Federal Military Government (FMG). The civil war in Oguta and other areas in Biafra was life-changing. Achuzie is a prominent figure in Nigerian politics, even though he was arrested along side with some other Biafran soldiers who broadcasted their final surrender to General Olusegun Obasanjo in 1970. People were running. CNN Sans & 2016 Cable News Network. Language links are at the top of the page across from the title. [56]On 16June 2012, a Supreme Council of Elders of the Indigenous People of Biafra, another pro-Biafra organization was formed, the body is made up of some prominent persons in the Biafra region, they sued the Federal Republic of Nigeria for the right to self-determination, Debe Odumegwu Ojukwu, the eldest son of ex-President / General Ojukwu and a Lagos state-based lawyer was the lead counsel that championed the case. It was headquartered in Kidney Island,Port Harcourt, and commanded by Winifred Anuku. Background Nigeria became an independent country on October 1, 1960.