Nigerian Biafran separatists mark 50th anniv

(30 May 2017) Supporters of Nigeria's former breakaway state of Biafra are marking the 50th anniversary of the declaration of Biafra.
The self-proclaimed Republic of Biafra only existed for three years, from 30 May 1967 until January 1970.
Biafra was reintegrated into Nigeria after a two-and-a-half-year-long war that caused one million deaths, many due to starvation that resulted from a blockade of the region by the Nigerian government.
On Sunday in Umuahia, which was the capital of Biafra, members of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), a political organisation led by Nnamdi Kanu, gathered ahead of the celebrations to listen to their leader.
In an interview with the Associated Press Kanu said that Umuahia's indigenous Igbo people or Biafrans still do face a lot of injustice and depravation, the very causes of the civil war, but vowed to "bring an end to it... once and for all".
Amongst those marking the anniversary in Umuahia on Sunday were war veterans who fought the country's civil war that lead to the creation of the secessionist state.
The civil war began in 1967 when the Igbo people of eastern Nigeria seceded from the rest of the country following years of ethnic tensions.
The self-proclaimed republic was soon under siege from the Nigerian Army until it surrendered in January 1970.
The Biafrans, with great ingenuity, built their own guns and armoured vehicles, however, with little foreign support and no real airforce, the odds were always stacked against them.
The weapons used in the war are now historical relics, as redundant as the men who fought it.
Some veterans in the region do still remain hopeful Biafra will be brought back to life again one day.
"I need Biafra freedom. We Biafrans, we need Biafra freedom," said 75-year-old Uboha Damia.

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