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Battles of Third Marine Commando of the Nigerian Civil War in Uyo, Ikot-Ekpene Axis, 1967-1970

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Battles of Third Marine Commando of the Nigerian Civil War in Uyo, Ikot-Ekpene Axis, 1967-1970 POLAC HISTORICAL REVIEW Vol. 3 No. 1. July-December 2019 Pages 11 – 23 ISSN: 2476 – 8049 Website: www.npaw-jhss.com.ng Battles of Third Marine Commando of the Nigerian Civil War in Uyo, Ikot-Ekpene Axis, 1967-1970 Victor S. Akran and Ubong Ituen Abstract The Nigerian Civil War of 1967-1970 was basically an armed conflict between the Federal Government of Nigeria and the Biafaran cessationists, whose area was made up of the then Eastern region of the country After all diplomatic means including the Aburi accord in Ghana to resolve the dispute between Colonel Yakubu Gowon and Colonel OdumegwuOjukwu failed, the next alternative appeared to be that of armed conflict. It has been demonstrated that the issues that led to the war could be categorized under both the remote and the immediate causes. The present study however discusses the war but with specific reference to the Uyo, IkotEkpene axis owing to the negligence in scholarly attention that this region has received. The work discusses that the axis represented a crucial role if the Federal offensive was to be completed. Occupied mainly by the Annang and the Ibibio groups, the people of this axis appeared not to negotiate their position in the war as they rooted their support for the Federal government owing to the marginalization and domination they suffered from the Igbo at the time. This was therefore not unconnected with the various acts of sabotage they perpetuated against the Igbo, hence giving the Federal side an affordable ride to quick victory. The operations carried out in this axis was designated under the control of the Third Marine Commando (3MCDO) and on landing at Oron, they proceeded to liberate Uyo, linking up with troops at Itu and then proceeding to liberate IkotEkpene after a fierce battle and change of hands of about three times. The Biafran 12 Division was also tasked with the responsibility of defending the axis but their military might both in terms of weapons and logistics was no match for the Federal side who were better trained and better equipped for the war. Suspicious that the non-Igbo had a crucial part to play in the defeat of Biafra in the region, some of the indigenous people bore the brunt of the Igbo who realistically saw them as betrayers. Indeed the impacts of the war bordering on socio- political and economic aspects of the people in the region were such that could cause people to reflect on other alternatives for resolving issues other than through war. Introduction Uyo, Itu and Ikot-Ekpene are local government areas in the present day Akwa-Ibom State of the Federal Republic of Nigeria with slight variations in dialect. While Uyo and Itu are a part of the Ibibio nation, Ikot-Ekpene is host to the Annang group. Interestingly, this variation in ethnic groups is taken seriously by the people as it borders on their political, religious, economic and social lives while strangers and see all the ethnic groups collectively under the nomenclature, Ibibio. Therefore, the people of AkwaIbom are viewed as the Ibibio but they are different ethnic groups. The Ibibio-speaking people occupy a part of the south-southgeo-political region of Nigeria. They share boundary with the Ijaw of Rivers State; the Igbo of the Imo State; with the Ekoi and someethnic 1 groups in the Camerouns and of course the Bight of Bonny. The Ibibio have a coastline which stretches from the Akpayafe river at the Nigeria-Cameroun border in the east to the Andonai river in the west, a distance of more 11 than 130 kilometres; it extends for more than 110 kilometres northwards to ItuMbon Uso2 which lies southeast of Bende in the Imo State.3 There are two vegetation belts- the mangrove swamp forest which fringes the coast, and the rain forest belt which lies north of the mangrove forest. The rainfall is heavy, being 3000 mm a year at Calabar and 2500 mm a year at Uyo. The area is generally flat with a few hills around Itu in the north and Oban in the east. There are innumerable rivers; from east to west – the Ikang, the Calabar, the Cross, the Kwa Iboe, the Imo, and the Andonai rivers with their 4 innumerable creeks. The Annang is a sub-group of Ibibio dominant in IkotEkpene. The Annangare not different from the Ibibio in origin. The first mention of the name Annang was in 1854 in a book written by Sigismund Wilhelm Koelle, a German missionary in Sierra Leone. In his book, Polyglotta Africana,Koelle reported that was one of the languages spoken by those liberated by a British war ship, after which he settled in waterloo, in Sierra Leone. He said there were at least two hundred other “kalaba” (Calabar) people in Sierra Leone. Koelle collected specimens of the languages spoken with the help of one Ibibio man and later, an Annang man.5 Evidence available showed that Annang is a sub-group of the Ibibio. In 1933, the senior Resident, Calabar Province, wrote a covering note to the Acting Lieutenant Governor, Southern Provinces indicating that the Annang are the Ibibio people, speaking a dialect of Ibibio and populating the areas 6 covered by the Abak Division and the Western half of the IkotEkpene Division. Again, the Efik group developed from small communities of eastern Ibibio to the riverine area to form small fishing settlements, some of which later developed into big trading centers like Creek town and Duke town. K. O. Dike, agrees that the Efik are a branch of the Ibibio and says that it was due to the lucrative trade in slaves that the Efik moved from the Ibibio interior to their present home.7 Reconstructing the detailed migration of each of these groups presents a daunting task but the common signature among the diverse groups is the identity they share in language which distills from a common stock, Ibibio. South-Eastern State was created from the former Eastern Region of Nigeria by the regime Lieutenant ColonelYakubu Gowon in 1967.Its name was later changed to Cross-River State in 1976 by the Murtala Mohammed regime from Southern-Eastern State with Calabar as its state capital. The cultures here share great affinities demonstrated in their music, drumming, religion, pattern of injunctions, dances as well as mode of dressing. The people basically involve in trade, farming, hunting, etc., and IkotEkpene specifically at the time was a nerve center of commerce because of its dealings with raffia, and so was called the raffia city. In the absence of a large scale machinery of political organization among the Ibibio, the British invaders concluded that the Ibibio had no political and legal systems which were worth preserving. However studies have shown that the Ibibio political organization was based on social organization and consisted of six administrative divisions including IdipEte, Ufok, Ekpuk, Obio or Idung, Oduk, Ikpaisong. The Ibibio and Annangpeople of Uyo- IkotEkpene axis appeared not to be on the part of resistance during the civil war. For the most part, the average Ibibio never consented to the war being fought in their territory perhaps due to the belief that the Igbo were a domineering group and had not sought proper consultation from them before taking the step to initiate the war. Perhaps, this 12 could also account for the incident of the Ibibio taking up the positions of sabotage in a bid to frustrate the efforts of the Biafrans as will be seen in the later part of this work. As popularly established, the Third Marine Commando commanded by Benjamin Adekunle was in charge of liberating the area under study although Col. Olusegun Obasanjo was later dispatched to take over the command. Plans by the Federal Troops Battle Order (The Third Marine Commando) The place of the Third Marine Commando in the Nigerian Civil war remains unique. The command became the first unit to embark on an amphibious landing in Africa. Comprising of the Army, Navy and Air force, this command represented a fighting force that could not easily be dislodged by the Biafrans. Their efforts extended down into the Uyo, IkotEkpene axis of the war. The 3MCDO troop strength was put between 35,000 and 40,000 and comprise of street thugs, outlaws, renegades8 which were trained to become a formidable fighting force. Adekunle holds that when the boys of the Division were first presented to him, with the exception of a few officers, they were raw, ill- trained, ill-disciplined set of ruffians. A driving force had to be instilled into them, the beauty of fighting and dying if need be for their fatherland. According to him, he proceeded to drill these lessons into the men with all the force at his command. To achieve the given tasks, certain factors had to be accorded detailed examination by a four- man team comprising Admiral (then Captain) Soroh, designated as the Task Forces Commander, Commander Rowe, Lt. Colonel B.A.M Adekunle, military forces commander and Major Gibson Jalo.9 Furthermore, the command was divided into 4 sectors. Sector 1 was commanded by Lieutenant Colonel Godwin Ally and it comprised of 15 and 16 Brigade, 2 Sector by Lt Colonel Akinrade comprised of 14 and 17 Brigade, 3 Sector by Lt. Col. AlabiIsama, comprised of 12 Brigade, 13 Brigade and 18 Brigade and 4 Sector by Ayo Ariyo. 15 Brigade, under Major YemiAlaibi (and later by Major Makanjuola) and 16 Brigade commanded by Major Utuk were tasked to conquer Owerri. 12 Brigade under Captain Isemede and 17 Brigade under Philemon Shande were given the responsibility to conquer Aba.
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