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JOURNAL OF HISTORY AND MILITARY STUDIES [JHMS] Copyright © The Author(s), 2019 Volume 5(1): ISSN (Print): 2536-6726 ISSN (Online): 2734-388X Page: 63-91 The Struggle for the Control of Aniomaland in the Nigerian Civil War, 1967-1970 Odigwe A. Nwaokocha Abstract There are varied works on the Nigerian Civil War. However, not much is known about the outline of the war in the fringe Igbo-dominated section of the old Mid-West Region presently known as Aniomaland. It was geographically on the Nigerian side during the war. The seeming neglect of the index of the war in the area by scholars has not enabled a deeper understand- ing and appreciation of the nature of the war. There was a profound military contest between Biafran and Nigerian military forces for the control of the strategically-located Aniomaland in the war. This work is an attempt to probe into the details of the conflict between the two contending sides in the war from 1967 to 1970. Employing primary and secondary sources, the work delves into explaining the character and reasons behind the military manoeuvres, the nature of the killings, particularly of unarmed civilians by both sides, and what they left be- hind as their after effects. The work posits that the course of the war and the intensive nature of the struggles for the control of Aniomaland made the Anioma people major victims as it left them with many negative consequences to battle with. Introduction The Nigerian civil war has assumed the status of a watershed in Nigerian historiography. Understanding its various elements – particularly the role and fate of minority groups in it – is essential to an explanation of the forces that have shaped modern Nigerian history. This partly underlines the importance of studying the war in Aniomaland, which was on the Nigerian side during the war. It emerged as a theatre of fighting in the Nigerian Civil War when Biafran forces invaded the Mid-West region through Asaba on August 9, 1967 and federal forces attempted to expel them from the region. It should be noted that the Nigerian Civil War had started on July 6, 1967 and ended on January 12, 1970, while the formal surrender and what is generally considered to be the end of the Nigerian civil war _______________ Corresponding Author: Department of History and International Studies, University of Benin, Benin City, Nigeria Journal of History and Military Studies, Vol. 5, No. 1, Dec. 2019 took place in Lagos on January 15, 1970. Biafra began to shrink territorially almost immedi- ately fighting began. By the fourth day of hostilities, Nigerian troops had already marched to Nsukka. Ogoja in the extreme north of the territory had been lost. Despite the loss, Biafra held out but were under intense presure in the same northern sector around Obollo- Afor, the only flank of the war yet open as at July 20, 1967.1 On July 25, 1967 the federal side opened a second flank with an amphibious landing at Bonny by the 3rd Marine Com- mand under Lt-Col Benjamin Adekunle. And, the third flank was opened by Biafra with its invasion of the Mid-West on August 9, 1967. This brought Aniomaland into the war picture and made it a major battlefront. History re- veals that the Biafran invasion of the Mid-West region changed the tone of the war. The federal response was the hasty formatiom of the Second Division of the Nigerian Army under the command of Lt-Col Murtala Mohammed. The invading Biafran forces on their way to Ibadan and Lagos encoutered federal forces around Ore in Western Nigeria, re- treated and were pushed all the way back to Benin City. From Benin, Biafran forces re- treated to Agbor, then Umunede, and finally, Asaba, all in Aniomaland. From then on they launched resistance to the push of the federal army. This continued in various forms till the end of the war in 1970. A lot has been said about the Biafran invasion of the Mid-West.2 However the account of the war in Aniomaland has been largely ignored by scholars. Though it received some attention in the works of J.O.G. Achuzia and Emma Okocha,3 with the singular exception of Egodi Uchendu’s work that looked at Anioma women in the war,4 it has been overlooked by historians. This work is therefore dedicated to the struggle for the control of Aniomaland between Biafran and Nigerian forces. The Location of Aniomaland Aniomaland lies in the middle reaches of the lower Niger River’s western bank in Nigeria. It stretches from Onyaa axis in the south to Ebu in the north. Further upland and away from the Niger bank, the territory goes as far as the village of Anioma in Odiani clan. Here, the territory has a common boundary with Esanland in Edo State just like it does on the Ebu axis on the Niger Valley. In geographical terms, the relative position of the Anioma area is as follows: it is bounded in the east by the River Niger, with Anambra and Imo states located at the eastern bank of the river. The territory has a huge stretch of boundary with Edo state on its western axis. In the south-west, Aniomaland is bound by Bomadi, Isoko- South, Isoko-North and Ughelli North local government areas of Delta State. It shares a boundary with Rivers State in the south. Modern Aniomaland has nine local government areas. These are Aniocha North, Aniocha South, Ika North, Ika East, Ndokwa East, Ndokwa West, Oshimili North, Oshimili South and Ukwuani. Situated at the western bank of the Niger River, they have been referred to as ‘West Niger Igbo’ in some circles. This descriptive term was employed as a geographical 64 This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY) Female Involvement in the Nigerian Civil War… M. J. Yakubu, A. S. Habeeb & A. O. Gbenga phrase to differentiate them from the Igbo group on the the east of the Niger River. Ani- omaland was in the Western Region between 1946 and 1963; and in the Mid-West from 1963 to 1976. When Delta State was carved out, the Mid-West was re-christened Bendel State in 1976, a name she bore till 1991. At different times, the Anioma people have been called ‘Ika Igbo’, ‘Western Igbo’, ‘Mid-Western Igbo’, ‘Bendel Igbo’ and ‘Delta Igbo’. Ma- jority of Anioma people speak basically three broad dialects of the macro Igbo language. A minority speak Olukwumi (Yoruba) and Igala. The various Igbo dialects of the Anioma are widespread and virtually all the Anioma people, including the Olukwumi and Igala speakers, communicate in Igbo. Biafran Invasion of the Mid-West, Dynamics of War and Biafran Retreat The civil war extended to Aniomaland when Biafran forces invaded the Mid-West through the Niger Bridge. The main party landed in Benin on the morning of August 9, 1967. A col- umn had branched out at Agbor and headed for Warri. From Benin, another column headed north to Auchi. There was no fighting initially until federal forces confronted the Biafran troops. The last motorised Biafran columns retreated across the Niger Bridge to the east on October 4, 1967 after some stiff resistance at Asaba. Details of the Mid-West invasion show that a Biafran battalion under Lt-Col Mike Ivenso was to move through Owo and Akure and take Ibadan. The second battalion under Lt-Col Festus Akagha was expected to move through the centre to Benin and take Ore, Ijebu- Ode and Lagos. The Third Battalion commanded by Lt-Col Humphrey Chukwuka was to move down south through Sapele and Warri, then moving along the coast, join a two- pronged attack on Lagos. The plan failed as the federal reaction frustrated it. This proved to be the turning point of the war as the federal offensive ended up bringing the war to the Anioma people in their home. Before highlghting that, some issues about the Biafran invasion of the Mid-West need examination. From a military point of view, the Mid-West gamble was a disaster both for Biafra and the Anioma people. The invasion threw up the issue of alleged collaboration between Anioma officers in the 4th Area Command of the Nigerian Army in the Mid-West and Biafra. Lt-Col Conrad Nwawo who commanded the 4th Area Command has denied the conspiracy prop- osition. He pointed out that resistance was impossible as that could not be sustained due to paucity of arms and ammunitions, asserting that ‘you do not fight wars with service pistols.’5 The command had no armoured cars, no artillery or anti-tank weapons. It had four Bren guns and two 81 mm. mortars. The dearth of arms in the command troubled the Mid-West government, which atempted but failed to import its own arms.6 On why top officers of the Area Command crossed the Niger to Biafra when the Mid-West fell to the federal forces, Nwawo insists some of them were already declared wanted by the federal 65 Journal of History and Military Studies, Vol. 5, No. 1, Dec. 2019 government for sabotage and conspiracy.7 There is a documented evidence to show that Nwawo and Okwechime were called leaders of the ‘collaborators and mutineers’ by the Federal Radio in Lagos at the time.8 An officer of the 4th Area Comand, Captain Asoya said cicumstances beyond their control forced some of them to Biafra, where they felt safer considering the July/August killings in the army. Some non-Anioma officers of the com- mand, including the then Lt Ademokhai, also crossed over to Biafra for the same reason.9 The conspirarcy hypothesis is controversial and difficult to explain.

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