12 Facts About Biafra

Biafra, officially the Republic of Biafra, was a partially recognised secessionist state in West Africa that declared independence from Nigeria and existed from 1967 until 1970.

Biafra was established on 30 May 1967 by Igbo military officer C Odumegwu Ojukwu under his leadership as the governor of the then Eastern region of Nigeria, following a series of ethnic tensions and military coups after Nigerian independence in 1960 that culminated in the 1966 massacres of Igbo people and other Eastern ethnic groups living in northern Nigeria.

Biafra was formally recognised by Gabon, Haiti, Ivory Coast, Tanzania, and Zambia.

Biafra received aid from non-state actors, including Joint Church Aid, foreign mercenaries, Holy Ghost Fathers of Ireland, and under their direction Caritas Internationalis, and US Catholic Relief Services.

Federal projects in Biafra were greatly reduced compared to other parts of Nigeria.

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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.

Republic of Biafra comprised over 29,848 square miles of land, with terrestrial borders shared with Nigeria to the north and west, and with Cameroon to the east.

Territory of the Republic of Biafra is covered nowadays by the reorganised Nigerian states of Akwa Ibom, Rivers, Cross River, Bayelsa, Ebonyi, Enugu, Anambra, Imo, Abia.

Languages of Biafra were Igbo, Anaang, Efik, Ibibio, Ogoni, and Ijaw, among others.

Republic of Biafra was a unitary republic administered under emergency measures.

Biafra had a small improvised navy, but it never gained the success that their air force did.

Biafra has since been released and has been rearrested and released more than five times.