20 - Secession and Genocide in the Republic of Biafra, 1966–1970

Summary

The Nigerian Civil War, also known as the Nigeria–Biafra War, was fought between the Federal Republic of Nigeria and its breakaway eastern province from 1967 to 1970. The Republic of Biafra’s secession in May 1967 was a response to widespread violence against members of the Igbo ethnic group. Igbos constituted a long-standing internal diaspora across the Nigerian federation, especially its Northern Region. The Eastern Region, where most Igbo people had their ancestral homes, seceded in the name of protecting their lives and interests. The secessionist government argued that a genocide was taking place, citing the fact that Nigerian soldiers and police had participated in the killings of Igbos the previous year. They also argued that Nigeria pursued a genocidal strategy in the war that followed. Biafra’s status as a genocide was contested at the time, and it remains so in historical memory. Its importance as a case study lies not only in the particularities of its violence, but in what it reveals about how genocide claims can be instrumentalised.