The Forgotten Victims: Ethnic Minorities in the Nigeria-Biafra War, 1967-1970

The Nigeria-Biafra War att racted enormous international att ention not just for the brutal events of the period, but also because of how the confl ict was interpreted, especially by foreigners. The ghastly images of victims of the war dominated the international media and roused the world’s conscience. The confl ict took a toll on human lives on both the Igbo and the ethnic minorities in Biafra. While the Igbo tragedy was largely perpetrated in Northern Nigeria, that of the Biafran minorities – Efi k, Ijaw, Ogoja, Ibibio – occurred mainly in their homelands. The gory experiences suff ered by the Biafran minorities have largely been neglected in the historiography of the Biafra War. This paper examines the experiences of the ethnic minorities in Biafra during the war between July 1967 and January 1970. It argues that the minorities suff ered a high degree of persecution, molestation, injustice, psychological torture and other forms of suff ering which have not been fully examined in existing literature. The war subjected them to layers of loyalty and disloyalty both to the federal authority and the Biafran government. The paper asserts that these minority groups in Biafra were as much victims of the war as the Igbo. Hence, they should be accorded due recognition in the historiography of victimhood in the Nigeria-Biafra War.