Former Nigerian Military Head of State Yakubu Gowon dismisses the Nigeria-Biafra civil war as a “little fracas” that claimed the lives of hundreds of thousands to three million people, contradicting President Muhammadu Buhari’s previous statement that it resulted in one million deaths. Gowon, who led the country during the bloodiest conflict in its history, made the remarks during a brief interview with ARISE TV on the occasion of Bola Tinubu’s presidential inauguration.
Gowon expressed satisfaction that Nigeria has remained a united nation despite the war, stating, “Thank God we have made it to 60 years, and I hope we’ll make another 60 years. I may not be here.” The Nigeria-Biafra war erupted in 1967 when the southeastern region attempted to secede from Nigeria. The conflict lasted for over 30 months until 1970.
While Gowon proclaimed “no victor, no vanquished” at the end of the war, historians continue to criticize the country’s failure to achieve proper reconciliation and closure more than 50 years later.
In June 2021, President Buhari warned that he would respond to attacks against government facilities in the Igbo-dominated South-East with the same violence witnessed during the civil war. The region has experienced incidents of violence, with assailants targeting public and private assets. Security forces have carried out operations in pursuit of pro-Biafran elements, resulting in loss of life.
During the war, an estimated three million people lost their lives, with many executed by Nigerian soldiers and hundreds of thousands dying from starvation. Although the war’s documentation was incomplete, multiple accounts with credible corroboration detail how Nigerian soldiers massacred Igbo civilians in Asaba, Onitsha, Enugu, and other communities in the region.
President Buhari, along with Murtala Mohammed and other controversial military figures from the predominantly Muslim northern region, were involved in the bloodshed while fighting to prevent Biafra’s secession. In 2016, Nigerian forces in Onitsha killed hundreds of Igbo youths during a Biafran Day rally. Despite the discovery of charred remains by civil society groups, Buhari’s administration did not hold anyone accountable for the incident.
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