View source for Biafra

{{Short description|Partially recognised state in West Africa (1967–1970)}}
{{About|the former partially recognised state|the musician|Jello Biafra}}
{{Use British English|date=May 2022}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2023}}
{{Infobox former country
| conventional_long_name = Republic of Biafra
| common_name            = Biafra
| native_name            = {{lang|ig|Bìá fá rá}}
| image_flag             = Flag of Biafra.svg
| image_coat             = Coat of arms of Biafra.svg
| national_motto         = "Peace, Unity, and Freedom"
| national_anthem        = "[[Land of the Rising Sun (national anthem)|Land of the Rising Sun]]"<div style="display:inline-block;margin-top:0.4em;">[[File:Biafra anthem audio.mp3]]</div>
| image_map              = Map of Biafra with Benin and Nigeria.svg
| image_map2             = Biafra independent state map-en.svg
| capital                = {{ubli|[[Enugu (city)|Enugu]] (1967)|[[Umuahia]] (1967–1969)|[[Owerri]] (1969–1970) | [[Awka]] (1970)}}
| coordinates            = {{Coord|6|27|N|7|30|E|source:kolossus-svwiki|display=title,inline}}
| largest_city           = [[Onitsha]]
| ethnic_groups          = {{ubl|[[Igbo people|Igbo]] (70%)<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Nwaka |first1=Jacinta Chiamaka |last2=Osuji |first2=Obiomachukwu Winifred |title=They do not belong: adoption and resilience of the Igbo traditional culture |journal=African Identities |date=27 September 2022 |volume=22 |issue=3 |pages=828–845 |doi=10.1080/14725843.2022.2126346 |s2cid=252583369 |url=https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/14725843.2022.2126346 |language=en |issn=1472-5843|url-access=subscription }}</ref>|
[[Efik people|Efik]]|[[Ibibio people|Ibibio]]| [[Ogoni people|Ogoni]]|[[Ijaw people|Ijaw]]}}
| religion               = 
| demonym                = Biafran
| government_type        = [[Republic]]
<!-- Rise and fall, events, years and dates -->
<!-- only fill in the start/end event entry if a specific article exists. Don't just say "abolition" or "declaration" -->| legislature            = <!-- Biafran Legislature  -->
| upper_house            = Council of Chiefs
| lower_house            = Consultative Assembly
| GDP_PPP                = $40.750 million
| currency               = [[Biafran pound]]
<!-- Titles and names of the first and last leaders and their deputies -->| footnotes              = 
| status                 = Partially recognised state
| year_end               = 1970
<!-- Flag navigation: Preceding and succeeding entities p1 to p5 and s1 to s5 -->| year_start             = 1967
| image_map_alt          = 
| image_map_caption      = The Republic of Biafra in red, with its puppet state of the [[Republic of Benin (1967)|Republic of Benin]] in striped red, and Nigeria in dark gray.
| image_map2_alt         = 
| image_map2_caption     = Republic of Biafra in May 1967
| common_languages       = '''Predominantly'''{{ubl|[[Igbo language|Igbo]]<ref name = "smith">{{cite journal |last1=Smith |first1=Daniel Jordan |quote=In 1967, following a succession of military coups and interethnic violence, the predominantly Igbo-speaking region of south-eastern Nigeria attempted to secede, declaring the independent state of Biafra|title=Legacies of Biafra: Marriage, 'Home People' and Reproduction Among the Igbo of Nigeria |date= March 3, 2011 |journal=Africa |volume=75 |issue=1 |pages= 30–45|doi=10.3366/afr.2005.75.1.30|s2cid=144755434 }}
</ref>|[[English language|English]]}}'''Minority languages'''{{ubl|[[Ibibio language|Ibibio]]|[[Ijaw language|Ijaw]]|[[Efik language|Efik]]|[[Ekoid languages|Ejagham]]|[[Ogoni people|Ogoni]]}}
| title_leader           = [[List of presidents of Biafra|President]]
| year_leader1           = 1967–1970
| leader1                = [[Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu]]
| year_leader2           = 1970
| leader2                = [[Philip Effiong]]
| title_deputy           = [[Vice President]]
| year_deputy1           = 1967–1970
| deputy1                = [[Philip Effiong]]
| event_start            = Independence declared
| date_start             = 30 May
| event_end              = Rejoins Federal Nigeria
| date_end               = 15 January
| stat_area1             = 77306<ref name="land"/>
| stat_area2             = 
| stat_year1             = 1967
| stat_year2             = 
| stat_pop1              = 13,500,000<ref name="land"/>
| stat_pop2              = 
| p1                     = Military dictatorship in Nigeria{{!}}Nigeria
| s1                     = Military dictatorship in Nigeria{{!}}Nigeria
| flag_p1                = Flag of Nigeria.svg
| flag_s1                = Flag of Nigeria.svg
| era                    = [[Cold War]]
}}

'''Biafara''', [[Anglicisation (linguistics)|anglicized]] as '''Biafra''' ({{IPAc-en|b|i|ˈ|ae|f|r|ə}} {{respell|bee|AF|rə}}),<ref>{{cite dictionary|date=2022 |title=Biafra |url=https://www.ahdictionary.com/word/search.html?q=Biafra |dictionary=[[The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language]] |edition=5 |publisher=[[HarperCollins Publishers]] |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250812143700/https://www.ahdictionary.com/word/search.html?q=Biafra |archive-date=12 August 2025 |access-date=12 August 2025}}</ref> officially the '''Republic of Biafra''',<ref>{{Cite web |title=The Republic of Biafra {{!}} AHA |url=https://www.historians.org/teaching-and-learning/teaching-resources-for-historians/teaching-and-learning-in-the-digital-age/through-the-lens-of-history-biafra-nigeria-the-west-and-the-world/the-republic-of-biafra |access-date=9 June 2022 |website=www.historians.org}}</ref> was a [[List of historical unrecognized states and dependencies|partially recognised state]] in [[West Africa]]<ref>{{Cite web |date=21 June 2009 |title=Republic of Biafra (1967–1970) |url=https://www.blackpast.org/global-african-history/republic-biafra-1967-1970/ |access-date=9 November 2022 |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Anglin |first=Douglas G. |date=1971 |title=Zambia and the Recognition of Biafra |journal=The African Review: A Journal of African Politics, Development and International Affairs |volume=1 |issue=2 |pages=102–136 |issn=0856-0056 |jstor=45341498}}</ref> that declared independence from [[Nigeria]] and existed from 1967 to 1970.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Daly |first=Samuel Fury Childs |url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/history-of-the-republic-of-biafra/59377D443F078E195F366F5D1BCB31B9 |title=A History of the Republic of Biafra: Law, Crime, and the Nigerian Civil War |date=2020 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-1-108-84076-7 |location=Cambridge |doi=10.1017/9781108887748 |s2cid=225266768}}</ref> Its territory consisted of the former [[Eastern Region, Nigeria|Eastern Region]] of Nigeria, predominantly inhabited by the [[Igbo people|Igbo]] ethnic group.<ref name="smith" /> 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]].<ref>{{cite book |last=Lewis |first=Peter |title=Oil, Politics, and Economic Change in Indonesia and Nigeria |date=2007 |publisher=University of Michigan Press |isbn=978-0-472-02474-2 |location= |page=78 |quote=setting in motion a chain of social conflicts that culminated in the attempted secession of Igbo nationalists in 1967}}</ref>

The Nigerian military attempted to reclaim the territory of Biafra, resulting in the beginning of the [[Nigerian Civil War]]. Biafra was officially recognized as a sovereign and independent country by [[Gabon]], [[Duvalier dynasty|Haiti]], [[Côte d'Ivoire]], [[Tanzania]], and [[Zambia]] while receiving ''[[de facto]]'' recognition and covert military support from [[France]], [[Portugal]], [[Israel]], [[South Africa]], and [[Rhodesia]].<ref name=":0">{{cite journal |last1=Ijalaye |first1=David A. |date=July 1971 |title=Was 'Biafra' at Any Time a State in International Law? |journal=American Journal of International Law |volume=65 |issue=3 |pages=553–554 |doi=10.1017/S0002930000147311 |jstor=2198977 |s2cid=152122313 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Hurst |first=Ryan |date=2009-06-21 |title=Republic of Biafra (1967–1970) |url=https://www.blackpast.org/global-african-history/republic-biafra-1967-1970/ |access-date=2024-01-11 |language=en-US}}</ref> After nearly three years of war, during which around two million Biafran civilians died, president Ojukwu fled into exile in the Ivory Coast as the Nigerian military approached the capital of Biafra. [[Philip Effiong]] became the second [[List of presidents of Biafra|president of Biafra]], overseeing the surrender of [[Biafran Armed Forces|Biafran forces]] to Nigeria.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://biafra.info/biafra/nigeria-biafra-civil-war-effiong-surrenders-biafra.html |title=Nigeria-Biafra Civil War |access-date=2004-08-18 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040804030106/http://biafra.info/biafra/nigeria-biafra-civil-war-effiong-surrenders-biafra.html |archive-date=4 August 2004}}</ref>

[[Igbo nationalism]] became a strong political and social force after the civil war. It has grown more militant since the 1990s, calling for the independence of the Biafran people and the establishment of their state.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Nwangwu |first1=Chikodiri |last2=Onuoha |first2=Freedom C |last3=Nwosu |first3=Bernard U |last4=Ezeibe |first4=Christian |date=11 December 2020 |title=The political economy of Biafra separatism and post-war Igbo nationalism in Nigeria |journal=African Affairs |volume=119 |issue=477 |pages=526–551 |doi=10.1093/afraf/adaa025}}</ref> Various Biafran secessionist groups have emerged, such as the [[Indigenous People of Biafra]], the [[Movement for the Actualization of the Sovereign State of Biafra]], and the [[Biafra Zionist Front]].

==History==
[[File:Atlas Ortelius KB PPN369376781-006av-006br.jpg|thumb|right|Map of Africa ([[Abraham Ortelius]], 1584)]]
[[File:1770 Bonne Map of West Africa (Guinea, the Bight of Benin, Congo) - Geographicus - WestAfrica-bonne-1770.jpg|thumb|right|Map of West Africa ([[Rigobert Bonne]] (Royal Cartographer of France) 1770)]]
[[File:West Africa 1839 Mitchell map - Kong.jpg|thumb|right|Map of West Africa (1839); Biafra is shown in the region of "[[Lower Guinea]]"]]
[[File:The Kingd. of Biafara. Africae, Described. The manners of their Habits and buildings newly done into English by I.S (cropped).jpg|thumb|The Kingdom of Biafara, map by [[John Speed]] (1676)]]

[[Early modern]] maps of Africa from the 15th to the 19th&nbsp;centuries, drawn from accounts written by explorers and travellers, show references to Biafar, Biafara, Biafra,<ref>{{cite web |title=Map of Africa from 1669 |publisher=Afriterra Foundation |website=catalog.afriterra.org |url=http://catalog.afriterra.org/viewMap.cmd?number=785 |access-date=14 March 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110724225407/http://catalog.afriterra.org/viewMap.cmd?number=785 |archive-date=24 July 2011 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Map of Africa from 1669, Zoom |publisher=Afriterra Foundation |website=catalog.afriterra.org |type=zoomMap |url=http://catalog.afriterra.org/zoomMap.cmd?number=785 |access-date=14 March 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110724225623/http://catalog.afriterra.org/zoomMap.cmd?number=785 |archive-date=24 July 2011 }}</ref> and Biafares.<ref>{{cite web |title=Map of North-West Africa, 1829 |publisher=University of Texas |department=U.T. Libraries |place=Texas, USA |url=http://www.lib.utexas.edu/maps/historical/africa_nw_1829.jpg |access-date=14 March 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090808111017/http://www.lib.utexas.edu/maps//historical/africa_nw_1829.jpg |archive-date=8 August 2009 }}</ref> According to the maps, the European travellers used the word ''Biafara'' to describe the region of today's West Cameroon, including an area around today's Equatorial Guinea. Between 1731 and 1754, German bookseller and publisher [[Johann Heinrich Zedler]] published his encyclopedia [[Grosses vollständiges Universal-Lexicon]], in which he mentioned the exact geographical location of the capital of Biafara, namely alongside the river [[Wouri River|Rio dos Camaroes]] in today's Cameroon, at a latitude of 6 degrees 10 minutes.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.zedler-lexikon.de/index.html?c=blaettern&id=34714&bandnummer=03&seitenzahl=0857&supplement=0&dateiformat=1%27) |title=Grosses vollständiges Universal-Lexicon aller Wissenchafften und Künste |last1=Zedler |first1=Johann Heinrich |publisher=[[Bavarian State Library]] |access-date=10 May 2017 |quote=page 1684}}</ref> The words ''Biafara'' and ''Biafares'' also appear on maps from the 18th century in the area around Senegal and Gambia.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://libweb5.princeton.edu/visual_materials/maps/websites/africa/maps-central/central.html|title=1730 map – L'Isle, Guillaume de, 1675–1726|publisher=[[Princeton University Library]]|access-date=16 February 2017|location=Princeton, New Jersey, USA}}</ref>[[File:Gulf of Guinea Guillaume Lavasseur de Dieppe.jpg|thumbnail|right|French map of the Gulf of Guinea from 1849]]

In his personal writings from his travels, the Rev. Charles W. Thomas defined the locations of islands in the [[Bight of Biafra]] as "between the parallels of [[5th meridian east|longitude 5°]] and [[9th meridian east|9°&nbsp;East]] and [[4th parallel north|latitude 4°&nbsp;North]] and [[2nd parallel south|2°&nbsp;South]]."<ref>{{cite book |last=Thomas |first=Charles W. |date=1860 |via=[[University of Michigan]] libraries |url=http://name.umdl.umich.edu/anu9136.0001.001 |title=Adventures and observations on the west coast of Africa, and its islands. Historical and descriptive sketches of Madeira, Canary, Biafra, and Cape Verd islands; their climates, inhabitants, and productions. Accounts of places, peoples, customs, trade, missionary operations, etc., on that part of the African coast lying between Tangier, Morocco, and Benguela, by Rev. Chas. W. Thomas ... with illustrations from original drawings.}}</ref>

=== Under independent Nigeria ===
In 1960, [[Nigeria]] became independent from the [[United Kingdom]]. As with many other new African states, the country's borders did not reflect earlier ethnic, cultural, religious, or political boundaries. Consequently, the northern region of the country has a [[Islam in Nigeria|Muslim]] majority, primarily encompassing the territory of the indigenous [[Sokoto Caliphate]]. The southern population is predominantly [[Christianity in Nigeria|Christian]], mainly encompassing the territory of the indigenous [[Yoruba people|Yoruba]] and Igbo states in the west and east, respectively. Following independence, Nigeria was demarcated primarily along ethnic lines: a [[Hausa people|Hausa]] and [[Fula people|Fulani]] majority in the north, a [[Yoruba people|Yoruba]] majority in the West, and an [[Igbo people|Igbo]] majority in the East.<ref name="BBC1">{{cite news |first=Barnaby |last=Philips |date=13 January 2000 |title=Biafra: Thirty years on |work=[[BBC News]] |url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/596712.stm |access-date=1 January 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090930041007/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/596712.stm |archive-date=30 September 2009 |url-status=live }}</ref>

Ethnic tension had simmered in Nigeria during discussions of independence, but in the mid-twentieth century, ethnic and religious riots began to occur. In 1945, an ethnic riot<ref name=Plotnicov1971>{{cite journal |last=Plotnicov |first=Leonard |date=August 1971 |title=An Early Nigerian Civil Disturbance: The 1945 Hausa-Ibo riot in Jos |journal=The Journal of Modern African Studies |volume=9 |issue=2 |pages=297–305 |doi=10.1017/S0022278X00024976 |issn=1469-7777 |jstor=159448 |s2cid=154565379  |postscript=;}} ''also cited as'' {{issn|0022-278X}}</ref> flared up in [[Jos]], in which Hausa-Fulani people targeted Igbo people and left many dead and wounded. Police and army units from Kaduna had to be brought in to restore order. A newspaper article describes the event:

<blockquote>At [[Jos]] in 1945, a sudden and savage attack by Northerners took the Easterners completely by surprise, and before the situation could be brought under control, the bodies of Eastern women, men, and children littered the streets and their property worth thousands of pounds reduced to shambles<ref name=Plotnicov1971/></blockquote>

Three thousand Igbo people were murdered in the Jos riots.<ref name="WWWN">{{cite web |title=What is wrong with Nigeria? |url=https://www.ipobinusa.org/what-is-wrong-with-nigeria |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190329115655/https://www.ipobinusa.org/what-is-wrong-with-nigeria |archive-date=29 March 2019 |access-date=5 April 2019 |website=Indigenous People of Biafra USA |language=en-US}}</ref> In 1953, a similar riot occurred in [[Kano (city)|Kano]]. A decade later, in 1964 and during the Western political crisis,<ref>{{cite book |chapter=Crisis and Conflict in the Western Region, 1962–63 |doi=10.1007/978-1-349-08080-9_4 |title=Class, Ethnicity and Democracy in Nigeria |year=1988 |last1=Diamond |first1=Larry |pages=93–130 |isbn=978-1-349-08082-3 }}{{full citation needed|date=August 2020}}</ref> the Western Region was divided as [[Samuel Akintola|Ladoke Akintola]] clashed with [[Obafemi Awolowo]]. Widespread reports of fraud tarnished the election's legitimacy. Westerners especially resented the political domination of the Northern People's Congress, many of whose candidates ran unopposed in the election. Violence spread throughout the country, and some began to flee the North and West, some to [[Republic of Dahomey|Dahomey]]. The apparent domination of the political system by the North and the chaos breaking out across the country motivated elements within the military to consider decisive action. The federal government, dominated by Northern Nigeria, allowed the crisis to unfold with the intention of declaring a state of emergency and placing the Western Region under martial law. This administration of the Nigerian federal government was widely perceived to be corrupt.<ref>{{cite book |last=Njoku |first=Hilary M. |year=1987 |title=A Tragedy without Heroes: The Nigeria-Biafra war |publisher=Fourth Dimension |isbn=978-978-156-238-9 |language=en |via=Google Books |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=R1wuAQAAIAAJ}}</ref> In January 1966, the situation reached a breaking point. A [[1966 Nigerian coup d'état|military coup occurred]] during which a mixed but predominantly Igbo group of army officers assassinated 30 political leaders, including Nigeria's Prime Minister, Sir [[Abubakar Tafawa Balewa]], and the Northern premier, Sir [[Ahmadu Bello]]. The four most senior officers of Northern origin were also killed. [[Nnamdi Azikiwe]], the President of Igbo extraction, and the favoured Western Region politician [[Obafemi Awolowo]] were not killed. The commander of the army, [[Johnson Aguiyi-Ironsi|General Aguiyi Ironsi]], seized power to maintain order.<ref name="Omoigui2">{{cite web |first=Nowa |last=Omoigui |title=Operation 'Aure': The northern military counter-rebellion of July&nbsp;1966 |website=Nigeria/Africa Masterweb |url=http://www.africamasterweb.com/CounterCoup.html |access-date=15 August 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080723181411/http://www.africamasterweb.com/CounterCoup.html |archive-date=23 July 2008 }}</ref><ref name="Bozimo">{{cite web |first=Willy |last=Bozimo |title=Festus Samuel Okotie Eboh (1912–1966) |website=Niger Delta Congress |url=http://www.nigerdeltacongress.com/farticles/festus_samuel_okotie_eboh.htm |access-date=17 August 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080516163553/http://www.nigerdeltacongress.com/farticles/festus_samuel_okotie_eboh.htm |archive-date=16 May 2008}}</ref><ref name="onlinenigeria">{{cite news |title=The last of the plotters dies |series=1966 Coup |date=20 March 2007 |website=OnlineNigeria.com |url=http://nm.onlinenigeria.com/templates/?a=9670&z=17 |access-date=18 August 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081211013857/http://nm.onlinenigeria.com/templates/?a=9670&z=17 |archive-date=11 December 2008 }}</ref>

In July 1966, northern officers and army units staged a countercoup, killing General Aguiyi Ironsi and several southern officers. The predominantly Muslim officers named a general from a small ethnic group (the Angas) in central Nigeria, General [[Yakubu Gowon|Yakubu "Jack" Gowon]], as the head of the Federal Military Government (FMG). The two coups deepened Nigeria's ethnic tensions. In September 1966, [[1966 anti-Igbo pogrom|approximately 30,000 Igbo civilians were killed and hundreds of thousands more maimed, had their properties confiscated, and fled the north]], and some Northerners were expelled in backlashes in eastern cities.<ref name="onwar">{{cite web |title=Nigeria 1967–1970 |series=Biafran Secession |date=16 December 2000 |website=onwar.com |department=Armed Conflict Events Database |url=http://www.onwar.com/aced/data/bravo/biafra1967.htm |access-date=15 August 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080905090002/http://www.onwar.com/aced/data/bravo/biafra1967.htm |archive-date=5 September 2008 }}</ref>

In January 1967, military leaders [[Yakubu Gowon|Yakubu "Jack" Gowon]] and [[C. Odumegwu Ojukwu|Chukwuemeka Ojukwu]], as well as senior police officials from each region met in [[Aburi]], Ghana, and agreed on a less centralised union of regions. The Northerners were at odds with this agreement, known as the [[Aburi Accord]]s; [[Obafemi Awolowo]], the leader of the Western Region, warned that if the Eastern Region seceded, the Western Region would also, which persuaded the Northerners.<ref name="onwar"/>
{{Quote box|quote=Now, therefore, I, Lieutenant-Colonel Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu, Military Governor of Eastern Nigeria, by virtue of the authority, and pursuant to the principles, recited above, do hereby solemnly proclaim that the territory and region known as and called Eastern Nigeria together with her continental shelf and territorial waters shall henceforth be an independent sovereign state of the name and title of "The Republic of Biafra".|source=[[Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu]]<ref>{{cite web |author-link=Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu |first=C.O. |last=Ojukwu |title=Ojukwu's ''Declaration of Biafra'' speech |website=Citizens for Nigeria |url=http://www.citizensfornigeria.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=52&Itemid=63 |access-date=15 August 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081211171325/http://www.citizensfornigeria.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=52&Itemid=63 |archive-date=11 December 2008 }}</ref>|width=420px}}
After returning to Nigeria, the federal government reneged on the agreement and unilaterally declared the creation of several new states including some that [[Gerrymandering|gerrymandered]] the Igbos in Biafra.

=== Nigerian civil war ===
{{Main|Nigerian Civil War}}

On 26 May, Ojukwu decreed secession from Nigeria after consultations with community leaders from across the Eastern Region. Four days later, Ojukwu unilaterally declared the independence of the Republic of Biafra, citing the Igbos killed in the post-coup violence as reasons for the declaration of independence.<ref name="BBC1" /><ref name="onwar" /><ref>{{cite web |date=2 May 2014 |title=Republic of Biafra is born |url=https://www.flickr.com/photos/pohick2/13969882488/in/set-72157644200924229 |access-date=11 May 2014 |series=Biafra Spotlight |publisher=Library of Congress Africa Pamphlet Collection |via=Flickr}}</ref> It is believed this was one of the major factors that sparked the war.<ref>{{cite news |date=2 March 2012 |title=Nigeria buries ex-Biafra leader |work=BBC News |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-17230673 |url-status=live |access-date=21 September 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180618230633/https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-17230673 |archive-date=18 June 2018 |series=World News/Africa}}</ref> The large amount of oil in the region also created conflict, as oil was already becoming a major component of the Nigerian economy.<ref name="AU">{{cite web |date=November 1997 |title=ICE Case Studies |url=http://www.american.edu/ted/ice/biafra.htm |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080827020132/http://www.american.edu/ted/ice/biafra.htm |archive-date=27 August 2008 |access-date=16 August 2008 |series=TED |publisher=American University}}</ref> Biafra was ill-equipped for war, with fewer army personnel and less equipment than the Nigerian military, but had advantages over the Nigerian state as they were fighting in their homeland and had the support of most Biafrans.<ref name="Omoigui">{{cite web |last=Omoigui |first=Nowa |date=3 October 2007 |title=Nigerian Civil War file |url=http://www.dawodu.com/omoigui24.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070928010636/http://www.dawodu.com/omoigui24.htm |archive-date=28 September 2007 |access-date=27 October 2007 |website=dawodu.com}}</ref>

The FMG attacked Biafra on 6 July 1967. Nigeria's initial efforts were unsuccessful; the Biafrans successfully launched their own offensive and expansion efforts, occupying areas in the [[Mid-Western Region, Nigeria|mid-Western Region]] in August 1967. This led to the creation of the [[Republic of Benin (1967)|Republic of Benin]], a short lived puppet-state. However, with the support of the British, American, and Soviet governments, Nigeria turned the tide of the war. By October&nbsp;1967, the FMG had regained the land after intense fighting.<ref name="onwar" /><ref name="BBC.On This Day">{{cite news |date=30 June 1969 |title=30 June |work=[[BBC News]] |url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/june/30/newsid_3733000/3733321.stm |url-status=live |access-date=1 January 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090612035938/http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/june/30/newsid_3733000/3733321.stm |archive-date=12 June 2009 |series=On this Day}}</ref> In September&nbsp;1968, the federal army planned what Gowon described as the "final offensive". Initially, the final offensive was neutralised by Biafran troops. In the latter stages, a Southern FMG offensive managed to break through the fierce resistance.<ref name="onwar" />

Due to the proliferation of television and international news organizations, the war found a global audience. 1968 saw the images of malnourished and starving Biafran children reach the mass media of [[Western countries]], leading many [[Non-governmental organization|non-governmental organisations]] to become involved to provide humanitarian aid, leading to the [[Biafran airlift]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Daly |first1=Samuel Fury Childs |title=A history of the Republic of Biafra: law, crime, and the Nigerian Civil War |date=2020 |isbn=978-1-108-88774-8 |location=Cambridge, United Kingdom}}</ref>

After two-and-a-half years of war, during which almost two million Biafran civilians (three-quarters of them small children) died from starvation caused by the total [[blockade]] of the region by the Nigerian government,<ref>{{cite news |last=Jacos |first=Dan |date=1 August 1987 |title=Lest we forget the starvation of Biafra |language=en-US |newspaper=[[The New York Times]] |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1987/08/01/opinion/l-lest-we-forget-the-starvation-of-biafra-462487.html |access-date=26 March 2020 |issn=0362-4331 |series=Opinion}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=eribake |first=akintayo |date=14 January 2016 |title=50 yrs after January 15 1966 coup: Excerpts of Major Nzeogwu's coup speech |url=https://www.vanguardngr.com/2016/01/50-yrs-after-january-15-1966-coup-excerpts-of-major-nzeogwus-coup-speech/ |access-date=9 November 2022 |website=Vanguard News |language=en-GB}}</ref> Biafran forces under Nigeria's motto of "No-victor, No-vanquished" surrendered to the [[Military dictatorship in Nigeria|Nigerian Federal Military Government (FMG)]]. The surrender was facilitated by the Biafran Vice President and Chief of General Staff, Major General [[Philip Effiong]], who assumed leadership of the Republic of Biafra after the first President, Colonel [[C. Odumegwu Ojukwu|Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu]], fled to the [[Ivory Coast]].<ref>{{cite news |last=Philips |first=Barnaby |date=13 January 2000 |title=Biafra: Thirty years on |website=[[BBC News]] |url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/596712.stm |url-status=live |access-date=9 March 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131215145053/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/596712.stm |archive-date=15 December 2013}}</ref> After the surrender of Biafrans, some Igbos who had fled the conflict returned to their properties but were unable to claim them back from new occupants. This became law in the Abandoned Properties Act (28&nbsp;September 1979).<ref>{{cite book |last=Mwalimu |first=Charles |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ADV5PRO7_8AC&q=nigeria+abandoned+property+act+1979&pg=PA384 |title=The Nigerian Legal System |publisher=Peter Lang |year=2005 |isbn=978-0-8204-7126-6 |language=en |via=Google Books}}</ref> 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. After the war, bank accounts owned by Biafrans were seized and a Nigerian panel resolved to give every Igbo person an account with only 20&nbsp;pounds.<ref>{{cite news |last=Made |first=Alexsa |date=9 January 2013 |title=Group sues FG over abandoned property, others |language=en-US |website=Vanguard News, Nigeria |url=https://www.vanguardngr.com/2013/01/biafra-group-sues-fg-over-abandoned-property-others/ |access-date=5 April 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130326074224/http://www.vanguardngr.com/2013/01/biafra-group-sues-fg-over-abandoned-property-others/ |archive-date=26 March 2013 |series=Biafra}}</ref> Federal projects in Biafra were also greatly reduced compared to other parts of Nigeria.<ref name="WWWN" /> In an Intersociety study it was found that Nigerian security forces also extorted approximately $100&nbsp;million per year from illegal roadblocks and other methods from [[Igboland]] – a cultural sub-region of Biafra in what is now southern Nigeria, causing the Igbo citizenry to trust the Nigerian security forces even less than before.<ref>{{cite web |title=Nigeria security forces extort N100&nbsp;billion in Southeast in three years |url=https://www.ipobinusa.org/news-blog/2019/4/6/nigeria-security-forces-extort-n100-billion-in-southeast-in-three-years |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190425225040/https://www.ipobinusa.org/news-blog/2019/4/6/nigeria-security-forces-extort-n100-billion-in-southeast-in-three-years |archive-date=25 April 2019 |access-date=25 April 2019 |website=Indigenous People of Biafra USA |language=en-US}}</ref>

==Geography==
[[File:Biafra sat.png|thumb|left|A satellite image of the former Republic of Biafra]]

The Republic of Biafra comprised over {{convert|29848|sqmi|km2}} of land,<ref name="land">{{cite book |first=James |last=Minahan |year=2002 |title=Encyclopedia of the Stateless Nations |volume=S-Z |page=762 |publisher=Greenwood Publishing Group |isbn=978-0-313-32384-3 |via=Google Books |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=K94wQ9MF2JsC&pg=PA762}}</ref> with terrestrial borders shared with [[Nigeria]] to the north and west, and with [[Cameroon]] to the east. Its coast is on the [[Gulf of Guinea]] of the [[South Atlantic Ocean]] in the south.

The country's northeast bordered the [[Benue Hills]] and mountains that lead to Cameroon. Three major rivers flow from Biafra into the Gulf of Guinea: the [[Imo River]], the [[Cross River (Nigeria)|Cross River]] and the [[Niger River]].<ref>
{{cite encyclopedia
 |encyclopedia=Britannica
 |title=Nigeria
 |access-date=17 August 2008
|url=https://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/414840/Nigeria#tab=active~checked%2Citems~checked&title=Nigeria%20--%20Britannica%20Online%20Encyclopedia
 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080630061900/https://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/414840/Nigeria
 |archive-date=30 June 2008 |url-status=live}}
</ref>

The territory of the Republic of Biafra is covered nowadays by the reorganised [[States of Nigeria|Nigerian states]] of [[Akwa Ibom State|Akwa Ibom]], [[Rivers State|Rivers]], [[Cross River State|Cross River]], [[Bayelsa State|Bayelsa]], [[Ebonyi State|Ebonyi]], [[Enugu State|Enugu]], [[Anambra State|Anambra]], [[Imo State|Imo]], [[Abia State|Abia]], [[Delta State (Nigeria)|Delta]] and southern Kogi and Benue states.

==Languages==
The languages of Biafra were [[Igbo language|Igbo]], Anaang, Efik, Ibibio, Ogoni, and Ijaw.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://ilc.igbonet.com |title=Introduction to the Igbo Language |first=Ònyémà |last=Nwázùé |website=Igbonet.com |access-date=18 August 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080818233339/http://ilc.igbonet.com/ |archive-date=18 August 2008 |url-status=usurped }}</ref> However, [[English language|English]] was used as the [[official language|national language]].

==Politics==
The Republic of Biafra, a short-lived state that existed from 1967 to 1970, was characterized by a unitary republic structure administered under emergency measures. It comprised an executive branch led by the Biafran president and the Biafran Cabinet, along with a judicial branch that included the Ministry of Justice, the Biafran Supreme Court, and other subordinate courts, reflecting its attempts to establish a functioning governmental system during the period of secession.<ref>{{cite book |last=Daly |first=Samuel Fury Childs |year=2020 |title=A History of the Republic of Biafra: Law, Crime, and the Nigerian Civil War |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-1-108-84076-7}}</ref>

=== International recognition ===
Biafra was formally [[diplomatic recognition|recognised]] by [[Gabon]], [[Duvalier dynasty|Haiti]], [[Ivory Coast]], [[Tanzania]], and [[Zambia]]. Other nations, that did not officially recognise Biafra, but granted ''[[de facto]]'' recognition in the form of diplomatic support or military aid, included [[France]], [[Spain]], [[Portugal]], [[Norway]], [[Israel]], [[Rhodesia]], [[Apartheid South Africa|South Africa]], and [[Vatican City]].{{efn|{{crossreference|See [[Nigerian Civil War#International involvement]]}}}} Biafra received aid from [[non-state actor]]s, including Joint Church Aid, foreign [[mercenaries]], [[Holy Ghost Fathers]] of Ireland,<ref>{{cite web |last=McCormack |first=Fergus |date=4 December 2016 |title=Flights of angels |url=https://presspack.rte.ie/2016/12/04/would-you-believe-flights-of-angels |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180123072202/https://presspack.rte.ie/2016/12/04/would-you-believe-flights-of-angels/ |archive-date=23 January 2018 |access-date=22 January 2018 |series=Would you believe? |publisher=[[RTÉ]] Press Centre}}</ref> [[Caritas Internationalis]],<ref>{{cite magazine |last=Staunton |first=Enda |date=Autumn 2000 |title=The forgotten war |url=http://www.historyireland.com/20th-century-contemporary-history/the-forgotten-war/ |magazine=[[History Ireland]] magazine |volume=8 |issue=3 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180122072543/http://www.historyireland.com/20th-century-contemporary-history/the-forgotten-war/ |archive-date=22 January 2018 |access-date=22 January 2018 |lang=en-EI}}</ref> and [[Catholic Relief Services]] of the United States.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Phillips |first=James F. |year=2018 |title=Biafra at 50 and the birth of Emergency Public Health |journal=American Journal of Public Health |volume=108 |issue=6 |pages=731–733 |doi=10.2105/AJPH.2018.304420 |issn=0090-0036 |pmc=5944891 |pmid=29741940}}</ref> [[Médecins Sans Frontières|Doctors Without Borders]] also originated in response to the suffering.

Although the government of the [[United States]] under the presidency of [[Lyndon B. Johnson]] maintained an officially neutral stance during the war, there was strong public support for Biafra in the United States.<ref>{{cite web |title=Fifty Years Later: U.S. Intelligence Shortcomings in the Nigerian Civil War |url=https://www.cfr.org/blog/fifty-years-later-us-intelligence-shortcomings-nigerian-civil-war |website=Council on Foreign Relations |language=en}}</ref> The American Committee to Keep Biafra Alive was founded by American activists to spread pro-Biafran propaganda.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=McNeil |first1=Brian |date=3 July 2014 |title='And starvation is the grim reaper': the American Committee to Keep Biafra Alive and the genocide question during the Nigerian civil war, 1968–70 |url=https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/14623528.2014.936723?cookieSet=1 |journal=Journal of Genocide Research |volume=16 |issue=2–3 |pages=317–336 |doi=10.1080/14623528.2014.936723 |s2cid=70911056|url-access=subscription }}</ref> U.S. president [[Richard Nixon]] was sympathetic to Biafra. Before he won the [[1968 United States presidential election|1968 election]], he accused Nigeria of committing genocide against Biafrans and called for the United States to intervene in the war to support Biafra. However, he was ultimately unsuccessful in his efforts to aid Biafra due to the demands of the [[Vietnam War]].<ref>{{cite web |last1=Whalen |first1=Emily |date=5 December 2016 |title=Foreign Policy from Candidate to President: Richard Nixon and the Lesson of Biafra |url=https://notevenpast.org/foreign-policy-from-candidate-to-president-richard-nixon-and-the-lesson-of-biafra/ |website=Not Even Past}}</ref>

==Economy==
An early institution created by the Biafran government was the Bank of Biafra, accomplished under "Decree No.&nbsp;3 of 1967".<ref name="banknotes">{{cite journal |last=Symes |first=Peter |year=1997 |title=The bank notes of Biafra |journal=International Bank Note Society Journal |volume=36 |issue=4 |url=http://www.pjsymes.com.au/articles/biafra.htm |access-date=17 August 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080827224301/http://www.pjsymes.com.au/articles/biafra.htm |archive-date= 27 August 2008 |url-status=live}}</ref> The bank carried out all central banking functions including the administration of foreign exchange and the management of the public debt of the Republic.<ref name="banknotes"/> The bank was administered by a governor and four directors; the first governor, who signed on bank notes, was [[Sylvester Ugoh]].<ref>{{cite web |last=Ivwurie |first=Dafe |url=http://allafrica.com/stories/201102280439.html |title=Nigeria: The men who may be President (1) |website=AllAfrica.com |date=25 February 2011 |access-date=22 May 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131214123657/http://allafrica.com/stories/201102280439.html |archive-date=14 December 2013 |url-status=live }}</ref> A second decree, "Decree No.&nbsp;4 of 1967", modified the Banking Act of the Federal Republic of Nigeria for the Republic of Biafra.<ref name="banknotes"/>
Many supporters of Biafra continue to advocate for the region's independence, citing cultural identity, historical grievances, and the desire for self-determination. Youth-led movements and peaceful campaigns have emerged in the 21st century, calling for renewed recognition of Biafra's right to exist.


The bank was first located in Enugu, but due to the ongoing war, it was relocated several times.<ref name="banknotes"/> Biafra attempted to finance the war through foreign exchange. After Nigeria announced its currency would no longer be legal tender (to make way for a new currency), this effort increased. After the announcement, tons of Nigerian bank notes were transported in an effort to acquire foreign exchange. The currency of Biafra had been the Nigerian pound until the Bank of Biafra started printing out its own notes, the [[Biafran pound]].<ref name="banknotes"/> The new currency went public on 28&nbsp;January 1968, and the Nigerian pound was not accepted as an exchange unit.<ref name="banknotes"/> The first issue of the bank notes included only 5&nbsp;shillings notes and 1&nbsp;pound notes. The Bank of Nigeria exchanged only 30&nbsp;pounds for an individual and 300&nbsp;pounds for enterprises in the second half of 1968.<ref name="banknotes"/>

In 1969, new notes were introduced: [[pound (currency)|£]]10, £5, £1, 10[[Shilling|/-]] and 5/-.<ref name="banknotes"/>

It is estimated that a total of £115–140&nbsp;million Biafran pounds were in circulation by the end of the conflict, with a population of about 14&nbsp;million, approximately £10&nbsp;per person.<ref name="banknotes"/>

==Military==
{{main|Biafran Armed Forces}}
[[File:Roundel of Biafra (1967–1970).svg|thumb|[[Roundel]] of the Biafran Air Force.]]
[[File:ASC Leiden - Rietveld Collection - Nigeria 1970 - 1973 - 01 - 093 New Nigerian newspaper page 7 January 1970. End of the Nigerian civil war with Biafra.jpg|thumb|New Nigerian newspaper page, 7&nbsp;January 1970. End of the Nigerian civil war with Biafra. "Owerri is now captured. Ojukwu flees his enclave." Photographs of the military Obasanjo, Jallo, Bissala, Gowon.]]

At the beginning of the war Biafra had 3,000&nbsp;soldiers, but at the end of the war, the soldiers totalled 30,000.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.canit.se/~griffon/aviation/text/biafra.htm |title=Operation Biafra Babies |website=canit.se |access-date=19 August 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081014013306/http://www.canit.se/~griffon/aviation/text/biafra.htm |archive-date=14 October 2008 }}</ref> There was no official support for the Biafran Army by any other nation throughout the war, although arms were clandestinely acquired. Because of the lack of official support, the Biafrans manufactured many of their weapons locally. Europeans served in the Biafran cause; German-born [[Rolf Steiner]] was a lieutenant colonel assigned to the 4th&nbsp;Commando Brigade and Welshman [[Taffy Williams]] served as a Major until the very end of the conflict.<ref>{{cite book |last=Steiner |first=Rolf |year=1978 |title=The Last Adventurer |place=Boston, MA |publisher=Little, Brown}}</ref> A special guerrilla unit, the Biafran Organization of Freedom Fighters, was established, designed to emulate the insurrectionist guerrilla forces of the [[Viet Cong]] in the [[Vietnam War|American – Vietnamese War]], targeting Nigerian Federal Army supply lines and forcing them to shift forces to internal security efforts.<ref name="auto">{{cite book |last=Jowett |first=Philip |year=2016 |title=Modern African Wars (5): The Nigerian-Biafran War 1967–70 |publisher=[[Osprey Publishing|Osprey Press]] |location=Oxford |isbn=978-1-4728-1609-2}}</ref>

The Biafrans managed to set up a small yet effective air force. The BAF commander was [[Poland|Polish]] [[World War II]] ace [[Jan Zumbach]]. Early inventory included four [[World War II]] American bombers: two [[B-25 Mitchell]]s, two [[B-26 Invader]]s (Douglas A-26) (one piloted by Zumbach),<ref>{{cite web |first=Michael |last=Robson |title=The Douglas A/B-26 Invader – Biafran Invaders |url=http://vectaris.net/id307.html |website=Vectaris.net |access-date=15 February 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130509094109/http://vectaris.net/id307.html |archive-date=9 May 2013 }}</ref> a converted Douglas [[DC-3]]<ref>{{cite book |last=Jowett |first=Philip |year=2016 |title=Modern African Wars (5): The Nigerian-Biafran War 1967–70 |page=18 |publisher=[[Osprey Publishing|Osprey Press]] |location=Oxford |isbn=978-1-4728-1609-2}}</ref> and one British [[de Havilland Dove]].<ref>{{cite book |last=Venter |first= Al J. |year=2015 |title=Biafra's War 1967-1970: A tribal conflict in Nigeria that left a million dead |publisher=Helion & Company |isbn=978-1-910294-69-7 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Qv4sDwAAQBAJ|page=137}}</ref> In 1968 the [[Sweden|Swedish]] pilot [[Carl Gustaf von Rosen]] suggested the MiniCOIN project to General Ojukwu. By early 1969, Biafra had assembled five [[Malmö MFI-9|MFI-9B]]s in neighbouring [[Gabon]], calling them the "Biafra Babies". They were painted in green camouflage and armed with two Matra Type&nbsp;122 rocket pods, each being able to carry six 68&nbsp;mm SNEB anti-armour rockets under each wing and had Swedish [[WW2]] reflex sights from old [[FFVS J 22]]s.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.ordendebatalla.org/blog/2015/10/01/los-minicoin-en-biafra/ |title=Biafra Babies |website=ordendebatalla.org |type=blog |date=October 2015 |access-date=22 April 2019 |archive-date=22 April 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190422022933/http://www.ordendebatalla.org/blog/2015/10/01/los-minicoin-en-biafra/ }}</ref> The six aeroplanes were flown by three Swedish pilots and three Biafran pilots. In September&nbsp;1969, Biafra acquired four ex-French [[North American T-6 Texan|North American T-6 Texans (T-6G)]], which were flown to Biafra the following month, with another aircraft lost on the ferry flight. These aircraft flew missions until January&nbsp;1970 and were flown by [[Portugal|Portuguese]] ex-military pilots.<ref name="Air Enthusiast">{{cite magazine |magazine=Air Enthusiast |number=65 |date=September–October 1996 |pages=40–47 |last=Vidal |first=Joao M. |title=Texans in Biafra T-6Gs in use in the Nigerian Civil War}}</ref>

Biafra also had a small improvised navy, but it never gained the success that their air force did. It was headquartered in Kidney Island, [[Port Harcourt]], and commanded by Winifred Anuku. The Biafran Navy was made up of captured craft, converted tugs, and armour-reinforced civilian vessels armed with machine guns or captured [[6-pounder gun]]s. It mainly operated in the [[Niger Delta|Niger River delta]] and along the [[Niger River]].<ref name="auto"/>

==Legacy==
[[File:Starved girl.jpg|left|thumb|upright|A child suffering the effects of severe hunger and [[Kwashiorkor|malnutrition]] during the Nigerian blockade]]

The international humanitarian organisation [[Médecins Sans Frontières]] originated in response to the suffering in Biafra.<ref name=MSF>{{cite web |title=Founding of Médecins Sans Frontières |url=http://www.doctorswithoutborders.org/founding-msf |publisher=Doctors without borders |access-date=21 December 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151220204557/http://www.doctorswithoutborders.org/founding-msf |archive-date=20 December 2015 }}</ref> During the crisis, French medical volunteers, in addition to Biafran health workers and hospitals, were subjected to attacks by the Nigerian army and witnessed civilians being murdered and starved by the blockading forces. French doctor [[Bernard Kouchner]] also witnessed these events, particularly the huge number of starving children, and, when he returned to [[France]], he publicly criticised the Nigerian government and the [[International Red Cross|Red Cross]] for their seemingly complicit behaviour. With the help of other French doctors, Kouchner put Biafra in the media spotlight and called for an international response to the situation. These doctors, led by Kouchner, concluded that a new aid organisation was needed that would ignore political/religious boundaries and prioritise the welfare of victims.<ref name="hih">{{cite book |last=Bortolotti |first=Dan |year=2004 |title=Hope in Hell: Inside the world of Doctors without Borders |publisher=Firefly Books |isbn=1-55297-865-6}}</ref>

In their study ''Smallpox and its Eradication'', [[Frank Fenner|Fenner]] and colleagues describe how vaccine supply shortages during the Biafra [[smallpox]] campaign led to the development of the [[ring vaccination|focal vaccination]]{{clarify|reason=Is this an attested term? If so please make a redirect.|date=June 2022}} technique, later adopted worldwide by the [[World Health Organization]] of the [[United Nations]], which led to the early and cost-effective interruption of smallpox transmission in [[West Africa]] and elsewhere.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://whqlibdoc.who.int/smallpox/9241561106_chp17.pdf|title=World Health Organization|website=World Health Organization|access-date=30 November 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110818011324/http://whqlibdoc.who.int/smallpox/9241561106_chp17.pdf|archive-date=18 August 2011}} Fulltext of Chapter 17, "West and Central Africa", from Smallpox and its eradication (1988), F. Fenner ... [et al.]. World Health Organization.</ref>{{rp|876–879, 880–887, 908–909}}

In 2010, researchers from [[Karolinska Institutet]] in [[Sweden]] and [[University of Nigeria, Nsukka|University of Nigeria at Nsukka]] showed that Igbos born in Biafra during the years of the famine were of higher risk of suffering from obesity, [[hypertension]] and impaired glucose metabolism compared to controls born a short period after the famine had ended in the early 1970s. The findings are in line with the developmental origin of health and disease hypothesis suggesting that malnutrition in early life is a predisposing factor for cardiovascular diseases and diabetes later in life.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Hult |first1=Martin |last2=Tornhammar |first2=Per |last3=Ueda |first3=Peter |last4=Chima |first4=Charles |last5=Edstedt Bonamy |first5=Anna-Karin |last6=Ozumba |first6=Benjamin |last7=Norman |first7=Mikael |year=2010 |title=Hypertension, diabetes and overweight: Looming legacies of the Biafran famine |journal=PLOS ONE  |volume=5 |issue=10 |article-number=e13582 |doi=10.1371/journal.pone.0013582 |pmid=21042579 |pmc=2962634 |bibcode=2010PLoSO...513582H |doi-access=free }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Nigeria: Those born during Biafra famine are susceptible to obesity, study finds |date=2 November 2010 |newspaper=[[The New York Times]] |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/02/health/02global.html |url-status=live |access-date=14 February 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151007012035/http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/02/health/02global.html |archive-date=7 October 2015 }}</ref>

A 2017 paper found that Biafran "women exposed to the war in their growing years exhibit reduced adult stature, increased likelihood of being overweight, earlier age at first birth, and lower educational attainment. Exposure to a primary education program mitigates the impacts of war exposure on education. War-exposed men marry later and have fewer children. War exposure of mothers (but not fathers) has adverse impacts on child growth, survival, and education. Impacts vary with the age of exposure. For mother and child health, the largest impacts stem from adolescent exposure."<ref>{{Cite report |last1=Akresh |first1=Richard |last2=Bhalotra |first2=Sonia |last3=Leone |first3=Marinella |last4=Osili |first4=Una O. |date=August 2017 |title=First and second generation impacts of the Biafran war |id=NBER Working Paper No.&nbsp;23721 |doi=10.3386/w23721 |url=http://www.nber.org/papers/w23721.pdf|doi-access=free }}</ref>

==Post-war events and Biafran nationalism ==
The [[Movement for the Actualization of the Sovereign State of Biafra]] (MASSOB) emerged in 1999 as a nonviolent Biafran nationalist group, associated with [[Igbo nationalism]]. The group enacted a "re-launch" of Biafra in [[Aba, Abia|Aba]], the commercial centre of [[Abia State]] and a major commercial centre in [[Igboland]].<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Duruji |first1=Moses Metumara |title=Resurgent ethno-nationalism and the renewed demand for Biafra in south-east Nigeria |journal=National Identities |date=December 2012 |volume=14 |issue=4 |pages=329–350 |doi=10.1080/14608944.2012.662216 |bibcode=2012NatId..14..329D |s2cid=144289500 |url=https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/79123823.pdf |issn=1460-8944 |access-date=17 March 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190327233925/https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/79123823.pdf |archive-date=27 March 2019 }}</ref> MASSOB says it is a peaceful group and advertises a 25-stage plan to achieve its goal peacefully.<ref>{{cite news |title=Dream of free Biafra revives in southeast Nigeria |first=Estelle |last=Shirbon |date=12 July 2006 |newspaper=Boston Globe |agency=Reuters |url=https://www.boston.com/news/world/africa/articles/2006/07/12/dream_of_free_biafra_revives_in_southeast_nigeria/|url-status=live |access-date=17 August 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081210092851/http://www.boston.com/news/world/africa/articles/2006/07/12/dream_of_free_biafra_revives_in_southeast_nigeria/ |archive-date=10 December 2008 }}</ref> It has two arms of government, the Biafra Government in Exile and the Biafra Shadow Government.<ref>{{cite web |title=Biafra News |date=13 April 2009 |website=Biafra.cwis.org |url=http://biafra.cwis.org/news20090413.php |access-date=22 May 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101010030754/http://biafra.cwis.org/news20090413.php |archive-date=10 October 2010 }}</ref> MASSOB accuses Nigeria of marginalising Biafran people.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Heerten |first1=Lasse |last2=Moses |first2=A. Dirk |date=3 July 2014 |title=The Nigeria–Biafra war: Postcolonial conflict and the question of genocide |journal=Journal of Genocide Research |volume=16 |issue=2–3 |pages=169–203|doi=10.1080/14623528.2014.936700 |s2cid=143878825 |doi-access=free }}</ref> Since August&nbsp;1999, protests have erupted in cities across Nigeria's south-east. Though peaceful, the protesters have been routinely attacked by the Nigerian police and army, with large numbers of people reportedly killed. Many others have been injured and/or arrested.<ref>{{cite news |title=Half a century after the war, angry Biafrans are agitating again |date=28 November 2015 |magazine=[[The Economist]] |url=https://www.economist.com/news/middle-east-and-africa/21679210-half-century-after-war-angry-biafrans-are-agitating-again-go-your-own-way |url-status=live |access-date=29 November 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151129054548/http://www.economist.com/news/middle-east-and-africa/21679210-half-century-after-war-angry-biafrans-are-agitating-again-go-your-own-way |archive-date=29 November 2015 }}</ref>

On 29&nbsp;May 2000, the Lagos ''[[The Guardian (Nigeria)|Guardian]]'' newspaper reported that the former president [[Olusegun Obasanjo]] commuted to retirement the dismissal of all military persons, soldiers and officers, who fought for the breakaway Republic of Biafra during Nigeria's 1967–1970 civil war. In a national broadcast, he said the decision was based on the belief that "justice must at all times be tempered with mercy".<ref>{{cite web |date=2 June 2000 |title=WEST AFRICA IRIN-WA Weekly Round-up 22 |url=http://iys.cidi.org/humanitarian//irin/wafrica/00a/0021.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090418012151/http://iys.cidi.org/humanitarian/irin/wafrica/00a/0021.html |archive-date=18 April 2009 |access-date=22 May 2012 |website=Iys.cidi.org }}</ref>

In July 2006, the [[Center for World Indigenous Studies]] reported that government-sanctioned killings were taking place in the southeastern city of [[Onitsha]], because of a shoot-to-kill policy directed toward Biafrans, particularly members of the MASSOB.<ref>{{cite web |title=Emerging genocide in Nigeria |website=Cwis.org |url=http://www.cwis.org/news/index.php?newsdate=biafra1 |access-date=22 May 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100127040159/http://cwis.org/news/index.php?newsdate=biafra1 |archive-date=27 January 2010}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Chronicles of brutality in Nigeria 2000–2006 |publisher=Cwis.org |url=http://www.cwis.org/fweye/fweye-18.htm |access-date=22 May 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120418195819/http://cwis.org/fweye/fweye-18.htm |archive-date=18 April 2012 }}</ref>

The Nigerian federal government accuses MASSOB of violence; MASSOB's leader, Ralph Uwazuruike, was arrested in 2005 and was detained on treason charges. He has since been released and has been rearrested and released more than five times. In 2009, MASSOB leader Chief Uwazuruike launched an unrecognised "Biafran International Passport" and also launched a "Biafra Plate Number" in 2016 in response to persistent demand by some Biafran sympathizers in the diaspora and at home.<ref>{{cite news |title=MASSOB launches "Biafran Int'l Passport" to celebrate 10th anniversary |date=1 July 2009 |website=Vanguard News, Nigeria |url=http://www.vanguardngr.com/2009/07/01/massob-launches-biafran-intl-passport-to-celebrate-10th-anniversary/comment-page-2/ |access-date=22 May 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100302120952/http://www.vanguardngr.com/2009/07/01/massob-launches-biafran-intl-passport-to-celebrate-10th-anniversary/comment-page-2/ |archive-date=2 March 2010}}</ref> On 16&nbsp;June 2012, a Supreme Council of Elders of the Indigenous People of Biafra, another pro-Biafra organisation, 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.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://sunnewsonline.com/new/court-determines-suit-between-nigeria-biafra-on-sept-22/ |title=Court determines suit between Nigeria, Biafra on Sept 22 |date=18 July 2015|publisher=sunnewsonline.com |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150807210646/http://sunnewsonline.com/new/court-determines-suit-between-nigeria-biafra-on-sept-22/ |archive-date=7 August 2015|access-date=18 August 2015 }}</ref>

MASSOB leader Chief Ralph Uwazuruike established [[Radio Biafra]] in the [[United Kingdom]] in 2009, with [[Nnamdi Kanu]] as his radio director; later Kanu was said to have been dismissed from MASSOB because of accusations of supporting violence.<ref>{{cite web |title=Uwazuruike reveals why he sacked Kanu from MASSOB |date=11 January 2017 |page=29 |website=Punch Nigeria |url=https://punchng.com/kanu-ipob-supporters-fraudsters-says-uwazuruike/ |url-status=live |access-date=23 February 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190117231534/https://punchng.com/kanu-ipob-supporters-fraudsters-says-uwazuruike/ |archive-date=17 January 2019 }}</ref><ref name="Murray">{{cite news |first=Senan |last=Murray |date=3 May 2007 |website=[[BBC News]] |title=Reopening Nigeria's civil war wounds |url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/6657259.stm |url-status=live |access-date=15 August 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081227212749/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/6657259.stm |archive-date=27 December 2008 }}</ref> The Nigerian Government, through its broadcasting regulators, the Broadcasting Organisation of Nigerian and Nigerian Communications Commission, has sought to clamp down on Radio Biafra with limited success. On 17&nbsp;November 2015, the Abia state police command seized an [[Indigenous People of Biafra]] radio transmitter in [[Umuahia]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Radio Biafra transmitters found&nbsp;... |date=November 2015 |website=PUO Reports |url=http://www.puoreports.com/2015/11/radio-biafra-transmitters-found-in.html%22Radi |access-date=30 November 2017}}{{dead link |date=April 2019 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Radio Biafra container with massive transmitter found in Nnamdi Kanu's village |date=17 November 2015 |website=News Rescue |url=http://newsrescue.com/radio-biafra-container-with-massive-transmitter-found-in-nnamdi-kanus-village/ |access-date=23 December 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151119045137/http://newsrescue.com/radio-biafra-container-with-massive-transmitter-found-in-nnamdi-kanus-village/ |archive-date=19 November 2015}}</ref> On 23&nbsp;December 2015, Kanu was detained and charged with charges that amounted to treason against the Nigerian state. He was released on bail on 24&nbsp;April 2017 after spending more than 19&nbsp;months without trial of his treason charges.<ref>{{cite news |title=Nigeria separatist resurfaces in Israel |website=[[BBC News]] |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-45938456 |url-status=live |access-date=17 March 2019 |date=22 October 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190323051424/https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-45938456 |archive-date=23 March 2019 }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=FG files fresh treason charges against Nnamdi Kanu |website=This Day Live |url=http://www.thisdaylive.com/articles/fg-files-fresh-treason-charges-against-nnamdi-kanu/228726/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151224181940/http://www.thisdaylive.com/articles/fg-files-fresh-treason-charges-against-nnamdi-kanu/228726/ |archive-date=24 December 2015 }}</ref> Self-determination is not a crime in Nigerian law.<ref>{{cite web |title=African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights |website=Nigeria-Law.org |url=http://www.nigeria-law.org/African%20Charter%20on%20Human%20and%20Peoples%27%20Rights.htm |access-date=13 April 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180616062052/http://www.nigeria-law.org/African%20Charter%20on%20Human%20and%20Peoples%27%20Rights.htm |archive-date=16 June 2018}}</ref>

According to the South-East Based Coalition of Human Rights Organisations, security forces under the directive of the federal government have killed 80&nbsp;members of the Indigenous People of Biafra and their supporters between 30&nbsp;August 2015 and 9&nbsp;February 2016 in a [[Killing of Pro-Biafra Protesters (2015–2016)|renewed clampdown]] on the campaign.<ref>{{cite news |title=Biafra will not stand, Buhari vows |newspaper=Vanguard News, Nigeria |date=6 March 2016 |url=http://www.vanguardngr.com/2016/03/biafra-security-forces-killed-80-ipob-members-rights-coalition/ |access-date=6 March 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160307103224/http://www.vanguardngr.com/2016/03/biafra-security-forces-killed-80-ipob-members-rights-coalition/ |archive-date=7 March 2016}}</ref> A report by [[Amnesty International]] between August&nbsp;2015 and August&nbsp;2016, 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.<ref>{{cite news |title=Nigeria: At least 150&nbsp;peaceful pro-Biafra activists killed in chilling crackdown |url=https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2016/11/peaceful-pro-biafra-activists-killed-in-chilling-crackdown/ |access-date=17 March 2019 |website=Amnesty International |date=24 November 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190404230749/https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2016/11/peaceful-pro-biafra-activists-killed-in-chilling-crackdown/ |archive-date=4 April 2019 |url-status=live}}</ref> The Nigerian military killed at least 17&nbsp;unarmed Biafrans in the city of [[Onitsha]] prior to a march on 30&nbsp;May 2016 commemorating the 49th anniversary of Biafra's 1967 declaration of independence.<ref name=WWWN/><ref>{{cite news |title=Amnesty accuses Nigerian army of killing at least 17 unarmed Biafran separatists |work=Reuters |date=10 June 2016 |url=https://af.reuters.com/article/nigeriaNews/idAFL8N191428?sp=true  |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180111052658/https://af.reuters.com/article/nigeriaNews/idAFL8N191428?sp=true |archive-date=11 January 2018 }}</ref>

Another group is the Biafra Nations League, formerly known as Biafra Nations Youth League, which has its operational base in the [[Bakassi Peninsula]]. The group is led by Princewill Chimezie Richard, alias Prince Obuka, and Ebuta Akor Takon (not to be confused wth the group's former deputy, Ebuta Ogar Takon). The group also has a Chief of Staff and operational commander who are both natives of the [[Bakassi]]. BNL have recorded a series of security clampdowns, especially in the [[Bakassi]] where soldiers of 'Operations Delta Safe' apprehended the National Leader, Princewill, in the Ikang-Cameroon border area on 9&nbsp;November 2016. During an attempt to mobilise a protest in support of Kanu's release, he was again re-arrested by the Nigeria Police Force in the same area on 16&nbsp;January 2018 along with 20 of their supporters.{{Ambiguous|date=October 2021}}<ref>{{cite news |title=Troops clash with militants, pirates in Niger delta creeks |date=9 November 2016 |website=The National Online |url=https://thenationonlineng.net/troops-clash-militants-pirates-niger-delta-creeks/}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Police release arrested Biafra leader |url=https://newtelegraphonline.com/2018/01/police-release-arrested-biafra-leader/ |access-date=16 December 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180801044631/https://newtelegraphonline.com/2018/01/police-release-arrested-biafra-leader/ |archive-date=1 August 2018}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Police detain Biafra Youth League leader in Calabar |website=News Express Nigeria |url=https://www.newsexpressngr.com/news/49071-Police-detains-Biafra-Youth-League-leader-in-Calabar |access-date=16 December 2019 |archive-date=16 December 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191216194055/https://www.newsexpressngr.com/news/49071-Police-detains-Biafra-Youth-League-leader-in-Calabar }}</ref> Many media outlets reported that BNL is linked to the [[Ambazonia|Southern Cameroons separatists]]; although the group confirms this, they denied involvement in violent activities in Cameroon. The Deputy Leader, Ebuta Akor Takon is an Ejagham native, a tribe in Nigeria and also in significant number in Cameroon.<ref>{{cite news |title=Biafra anglophone secession tension heightens in border towns |date=December 2017 |newspaper=New Telegraph Nigeria |url=https://www.newtelegraphng.com/2017/12/biafra-anglophone-secession-tension-heightens-boarder-towns/ |access-date=16 December 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191216215704/https://www.newtelegraphng.com/2017/12/biafra-anglophone-secession-tension-heightens-boarder-towns/ |archive-date=16 December 2019}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Southern Cameroun joins IPOB in Biafra struggle |date=18 April 2017 |website=Sun News Online |url=https://www.sunnewsonline.com/southern-cameroun-joins-ipob-in-biafra-struggle/}}</ref> BNL, which operates more in the Gulf of Guinea, has links with Dokubo Asari, a former militant leader. About 100&nbsp;members of the group were reportedly arrested in Bayelsa during a meeting with Dokubo on 18&nbsp;August 2019.<ref>{{cite news |series=Breaking news |title=Biafra National Council inauguration; police arrest 100&nbsp;Youth League members in Yenegoa |date=17 August 2019 |website=Daily Times, Nigeria |url=https://dailytimes.ng/2019/08/17/breaking-biafra-national-council-inauguration-police-arrest-100-youth-league-members-in-yenegoa/ |access-date=16 December 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191216194109/https://dailytimes.ng/2019/08/17/breaking-biafra-national-council-inauguration-police-arrest-100-youth-league-members-in-yenegoa/ |archive-date=16 December 2019}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Police strikes as Asari Dokubo inaugurates Biafra National Council, arrest Biafra youths |website=News Express Nigeria |url=https://www.newsexpressngr.com/news/80909-Police-strikes-as-Asari-Dokubo-inaugurates-Biafra-National-Council-Arrests-Biafra-youths |access-date=16 December 2019 |archive-date=16 December 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191216194059/https://www.newsexpressngr.com/news/80909-Police-strikes-as-Asari-Dokubo-inaugurates-Biafra-National-Council-Arrests-Biafra-youths }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Biafra: Police free 100&nbsp;agitators arrested during meeting with Asari Dokubo |date=18 August 2019 |website=Daily Post, Nigeria |url=https://dailypost.ng/2019/08/18/biafra-police-free-100-agitators-arrested-meeting-asari-dokubo/}}</ref>

The Incorporated Trustees of Bilie Human Rights Initiative, representing the Indigenous People of Biafra, have filed a lawsuit against the Federal Government of Nigeria and the Attorney General of the Federation, seeking the actualisation of the sovereign state of Biafra by legal means. The Federal High Court, Abuja has fixed 25&nbsp;February 2019 for hearing the suit.<ref>{{cite news |title=Court fixes February to hear suit seeking Biafra republic |date=30 November 2018 |website=The Guardian, Nigeria |url=https://guardian.ng/news/court-fixes-february-to-hear-suit-seeking-biafra-republic/ |access-date=30 November 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181130202147/https://guardian.ng/news/court-fixes-february-to-hear-suit-seeking-biafra-republic/ |archive-date=30 November 2018}}{{update inline|date=June 2020}}</ref>

On 31 July 2020, the Movement for the Actualization of the Sovereign State of Biafra/Biafra Independence Movement (BIM-MASSOB) joined the [[Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organization]] (UNPO).<ref name=unpowelcomes5newmembers>{{cite web |title=UNPO welcomes 5&nbsp;new members! |date=3 August 2020 |website=unpo.org |publisher=[[United Nations]] (UN) |department=[[Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organization]] (UNPO) |url=https://unpo.org/article/22010 |access-date=7 August 2020}}</ref><ref name=guam>{{cite web |title=Guam: Territory to be inducted into UNPO |date=31 July 2020 |website=unpo.org |publisher=[[United Nations]] (UN) |department=[[Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organization]] (UNPO) |url=https://unpo.org/article/22015 |access-date=7 August 2020}}</ref>

=== Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) ===
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.<ref>{{Cite web |author=Staff Reporter |date=2017-10-06 |title=Mystery of the missing Biafran separatist |url=https://mg.co.za/article/2017-10-06-00-mystery-of-the-missing-biafran-separatist-1/ |access-date=2024-09-23 |website=The Mail & Guardian |language=en-ZA}}</ref> Since 2021, IPOB and other Biafran separatist groups have been fighting a [[Insurgency in Southeastern Nigeria|low-level guerilla conflict in southeastern Nigeria]] against the [[Nigeria|Nigerian government]]. The group was founded in 2012<ref>{{Cite web |last=Leavitt |first=Jericho |date=2023-11-08 |title=Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) |url=https://www.moderninsurgent.org/post/indigenous-people-of-biafra |access-date=2024-09-23 |website=The Modern Insurgent |language=en}}</ref> by [[Nnamdi Kanu]] who has been the leader<ref>{{Cite news |date=2023-01-09 |title=Biafra quest fuels Nigeria conflict: Too scared to marry and bury bodies |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-64110852).Could |access-date=2024-09-23 |language=en-GB }}{{Dead link|date=March 2025 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> and [[Uche Mefor]], who served as the deputy leader.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Odeh |first=Nehru |title=IPOB: Why Nnamdi Kanu, Uche Mefor are at war |url=https://pmnewsnigeria.com/2020/11/24/ipob-why-nnamdi-kanu-uche-mefor-are-at-war/ |website=PM News}}</ref>

Kanu is known as a British [[political activist]] known for his advocacy of the contemporary Biafran independence movement.<ref>{{Cite news |date=2017-05-05 |title=Biafran leader Nnamdi Kanu: The man behind Nigeria's separatists |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-39793185 |access-date=2024-09-23 |work=BBC News |language=en-GB}}</ref> It was declared a terrorist organization by the Nigerian government in 2017 under the Nigerian Terrorism Act but the declaration was nullified by a High Court sitting in Enugu in 2023.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Oko |first=Steve |title=Proscription, designation of IPOB as terror organisation, unconstitutional – Court |url=https://www.vanguardngr.com/2023/10/breaking-proscription-designation-of-ipob-as-terror-organisation-unconstitutional-court/ |website=Vanguard Nigeria|date=26 October 2023 }}</ref> As of May 2022, the [[United Kingdom]] started denying asylum to members of IPOB who allegedly engaged in human rights abuses, though the UK government clarified that IPOB had not been designated as a terrorist organisation.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Elusoji |first=Solomon |title=We Didn't Designate IPOB As Terrorist Organisation – UK |url=https://www.channelstv.com/2022/05/06/we-didnt-designate-ipob-as-terrorist-organisation-uk/amp/ |website=Channels TV|date=6 May 2022 }}</ref>

IPOB has criticized the Nigerian federal government for poor investment, political alienation, inequitable resource distribution, ethnic marginalization, and heavy military presence, extrajudicial killings in the South-Eastern, South-Central and parts of North-Central regions of the country.<ref>{{Cite web |last=X |date=2019-04-30 |title=The dream of Biafra lives on in underground Nigerian radio broadcasts |url=https://www.latimes.com/world/africa/la-fg-nigeria-war-legacy-20190430-story.html |access-date=2024-09-23 |website=Los Angeles Times |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Writer |first=Conor Gaffey Staff |date=2015-12-07 |title=What is Biafra and Why are Some Nigerians Calling for Independence? |url=https://www.newsweek.com/what-biafra-and-why-are-some-nigerians-calling-independence-401164 |access-date=2024-09-23 |website=Newsweek |language=en}}</ref> The organization rose to prominence in the mid-2010s and is now the largest Biafran independence organization by membership. In recent years, it has gained significant media attention for becoming a frequent target of political crackdowns by the [[Federal government of Nigeria|Nigerian government]]. It also has numerous sites and communication channels serving as the only trusted social apparatus educating and inculcating first-hand information and news to its members.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2016-11-24 |title=Nigeria: At least 150 peaceful pro-Biafra activists killed in chilling crackdown |url=https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2016/11/peaceful-pro-biafra-activists-killed-in-chilling-crackdown/ |access-date=2024-09-23 |website=Amnesty International |language=en}}</ref>

==See also==
* [[2023 Nigerien crisis]]
* [[Ambazonia]]
* ''[[Half of a Yellow Sun]]'' by [[Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie]]
* [[Insurgency in Southeastern Nigeria]]
* [[Pakistanization]]
* "[[Roland the Headless Thompson Gunner]]", a song by [[Warren Zevon]] that references the state

==Notes==
{{notelist}}

==References==
{{reflist|25em}}

==Further reading==
*  {{cite book |last=Daly |first=Samuel Fury Childs |title=A History of the Republic of Biafra: Law, Crime, and the Nigerian Civil War |publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=2020}} [http://www.h-net.org/reviews/showrev.php?id=55906 Online review].
* {{cite book |author-link=Seymour M. Hersh |last=Hersh |first=Seymour M. |title=The Price of Power: Kissinger in the Nixon White House |pages=141–146}}

== External links ==
{{commons category|Biafra}}
* {{cite web |department=EU Libraries |publisher=[[Emory University]] |url=http://pid.emory.edu/ark:/25593/pqtjt |title=Republic of Biafra collection {{circa}} 1968–1970 |year=1968–1970 }}{{Dead link|date=June 2025 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }} {{cite web |title=Stuart A. Rose Manuscript, Archives, and Rare Book Library |url=https://rose.library.emory.edu/}}

{{Biafra topics}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Biafra| ]]
[[Category:1967 establishments in Nigeria]]
[[Category:1970 disestablishments in Nigeria]]
[[Category:Former territorial entities in Africa]]
[[Category:Former countries in Africa]]
[[Category:Former republics]]
[[Category:Former unrecognized countries]]
[[Category:History of Igboland]]
[[Category:Library of Congress Africa Collection related]]
[[Category:Members of the Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organization]]
[[Category:Nigerian Civil War]]
[[Category:Separatism in Nigeria]]
[[Category:States and territories disestablished in 1970]]
[[Category:States and territories established in 1967]]