Word: ojukwu
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...evidence could be seen of the deliberate genocide against which Biafra's General Odumegwu Ojukwu had warned before he hastily departed from his collapsing nation three weeks ago. Nigerian leaders, for the most part, made genuine efforts to see that Biafra's Ibo tribesmen were cared for. Nigerian money was rushed in to replace worthless Biafran currency, Ibo civil servants were rehired and their 30-month defection listed as "leave of absence without pay." Gowon, wearing a flowing blue African robe instead of a general's uniform, led a thanksgiving service at Lagos' Anglican cathedral...
Last year, with fresh troops and new supplies, Ojukwu briefly went over to the offensive. By August, seven-eighths of Biafra's former territory had been recovered, including Owerri, where 1,900 Nigerian troops were killed. But the optimism created by such military feats was soon dimmed by the specter of renewed starvation. In parts of Biafra's enclave two-thirds of the population suffered from malnutrition. As many as 1,000 children died in a single day; they were buried at night by lamplight in mass graves...
...recently as two weeks ago, Ojukwu was still directing the war from a heavily camouflaged lodge in a small village near Owerri, with no indication that he foresaw the debacle approaching. He followed a schedule that began at 8 a.m. and often continued until 3:30 a.m. -"I have not been much of a sleeper since I was a child." He pinned his hopes for Biafra's survival on domestic disorders in Nigeria. "Nigeria is a free-for-all," he said. "Gowon's only asset is that he can get British support." Bitterly, Ojukwu described the battles around...
...Ojukwu was betting that the centrifugal forces of tribal, religious and economic rivalry would tear Nigeria apart in time to save Biafra. But his men ran out of food before that debatable historical process could run its course. Thousands of them faded into the bush, shed their uniforms and, clad only in shorts, melted into streams of refugees. The Nigerians overran Owerri, the last remaining city of any size (250,-000) in Biafra. Then they pressed on toward Uli with their 122-mm. Soviet cannon, shelling the strip from a range of 13 miles...
Shortly before Owerri fell, Ojukwu held an all-night Cabinet meeting at which it was decided that he should leave Biafra, ostensibly to seek help elsewhere, actually to facilitate the surrender. Ojukwu later claimed that the decision was his; in Lagos, there were contrary reports that Effiong and other dissenters had forced Ojukwu to go. In any case, Ojukwu departed with bank accounts in London and Zurich to cushion the blow. With Ojukwu gone, Effiong broadcast a call for a cease-fire over a mobile radio transmitter. "Our people are now disillusioned," he said, "and those elements...