HOW BIAFRAN FORCES RECAPTURED OWERRI IN 1969

THE RECAPTURE OF OWERRI April 1969:

As we all know, the Biafran war started on the 7^th of July 1967 after all political negotiations had failed and the Nigerian side put its forces on high alert. It is rumoured that the 7^th of July was chosen because Gen Gowon wanted his Igbo girlfriend and love of his life; Edith Ike to leave the country to safety (she had just refused to marry him stating, that she can’t marry a man who was about to kill her people, hence the compromise)

The Biafran war was a very vicious and devastating war and our women and children bore the brunt, by dying in their millions due to a strangle-hold blockade by Nigerian navy, and the images of emaciated children with big distended bellies was shown around the world.

I and other commentators contend that more could have died, if not for the sheer bravery, doggedness, tenacity, resourcefulness and determination of the Biafran soldier, and I feel that this anniversary should be also used et al to give a big shout out to these brave young men and women who gave their all so we could see today as a people.

I chose the recapture of Owerri as a fitting tribute because it was dramatic and best represents the feats of the Biafran soldier against all odds.

Nigeria attacked Biafra with 2 divisions initially at the start of the war; its 1^st division was led by lt col Shuwa attacked from the northern borders in today’s Enugu state and then on the 29^th of July a flotilla of it army and navy landed in Bonny island in today’s Rivers state, in the south led by lt col Adekunle known as the ‘Black scorpion’ (his first wife Comfort Akie Wilcox who is from bonny was on the island at the time).

In August 1967, the Biafrans struck out on the offensive for the first time during the war, occupying the Mid-west and further reached Ore and Okitipupa therefore seriously threatening Lagos, even Gowon was rumoured to be getting ready to evacuate to Kaduna, as the arrival of Biafran forces In Lagos would have ended the war in Biafra’s favour. We all know that Col Victor Banjo sabotaged this operation and was then shot dead for treason. This Biafran offensive brought about the formation of a 3^rd division hastily put together and led by lt col Muritala Mohammed and named 2 Div, in the west.

And so Biafra was hemmed in from all sides with Nigeria’s 1^st div to the north; 2^nd div to the west; 3^rd div – later renamed 3^rd marine commandos from the south and an unfriendly Cameroon to the east.

But not deterred by being sealed off and out-numbered 10-1 and totally out-gunned, the biafran forces set about frustrating the efforts of the Nigerian forces to gain a quick victory and kill a lot of civilians in the process by first denying it access to Port Harcourt via the Bonny river, in fact the biafran navy and army fought very well for over a year to make sure the Nigerians never accessed Port Harcourt via the Bonny river which was actually the quicker and shorter route.

To get to Port Harcourt, the Nigerians landed further east in Calabar in October 1967 and then began a 400 mile march, led by lt col Alabi-Isama (Delta Igbo from Utagba Uno in today’s Delta state). They were harried all the way by the biafrans but the sheer number of men and equipment of the Nigerians meant that by May 1968, they were now at Obigbo and Afam via Ogoni regions, this meant the city was surrounded but they provided the Biafrans with an escape route via the Owerri road, and finally Port Harcourt fell to the Nigerian forces on the 24^th of May 1968 after trying for a year. Diplomatically, this was a huge disaster for the Biafra nation because it lost its main bargaining chip on the international stage, which was the oil fields and it lost these just before the Kampala peace conference, meaning many countries that could have lent support withdrew it as they didn’t think that Biafra would live any longer.

Buoyed by these victories in the Niger Delta, Col Adekunle now made a boastful and over-confident announcement to capture Owerri; Aba and Umuahia simultaneously in 2 weeks, as a present for Gen Gowon. He was warned severally by his field officers that it would be very expensive in terms of men and materials, as they would be venturing into the Igbo heartlands for the first time and that resistance would be very stiff, but undeterred, the swashbuckling Col went ahead with his pet project now named O.A.U, after the then Organisation of African Unity as in Owerri, Aba, Umuahia.

The attempts to capture Aba was partially successful because the Biafrans literally ran out of ammunitions and were betrayed by a foreign arms dealer who sabotaged the supplies and the Nigerian efforts to capture Umuahia failed, but they successfully captured Owerri in September 1968, but all was not well with the Nigerian troops in Owerri numbering about 5000.

Here’s what happened. The plan to capture Owerri in September 1968, was actually a good plan from a military point of view but was probably poor in terms of feasibly as would be explained later.

The plan was to have a 3 prong attack route from the south, with 3 brigades; namely: 14^th led by major George Inih, 15^th  led by major Makanjuola and 16^th led by major Akpan Etuk – Etuk was arguably the best field commander on the Nigerian side during the war. The 14^th and 15^th brigades were to act as flank protectors to the 16^th spearhead.

When the attack commenced, the 14^th under Major Inih fought its way from around Owerrinta to Ngor Okpuala and Mbaise on the right with Imo river by their side and got as far Inyiogugu in Mbaise few miles from their Owerri target before Col Lambert Iheanacho (from Ngor Okpuala, who was the youngest field officer of the war at 25 yrs. and in my opinion the best field commander of the entire war on both sides) successfully decimated them with the few Ogbunigwe they had and then pushed them all the way to their starting points around Amala etc.

The 15th brigade under major Makanjuola, attacked by sailing up the Urashi river on the left of Etuk, with the Niger River by their side and landed at Oguta, this landing was very dangerous for Biafra and Ojukwu immediately asked his army and navy to counter attack and push the Nigerians out because from Oguta, their artillery would effectively put Uli airport out of use and this act could effectively lead to the end of the war in September 1968. Therefore  col Nwanjei and Capt Anuku – head of biafran navy and with col Joe Achuzia all from ANIOMA Igbo, counter attacked and after some fierce battles, the Nigerian forces fled and many drowned in the Oguta lake, the Nigerians retreated all the way back to Chokocho in today’s Rivers state and the Biafrans also recaptured Egbema oil fields and oil started flowing in Biafra again.

The 16^th brigade led by major Utuk was the only successful one of the 3 attack brigades. As the spearhead, it bulldozed its way along the Owerri – Port Harcourt road via Elele, Asa, Ohoba, Avu, Obinze and finally reached owerri on the 16 of September 1968 and dug in as the town fell to the federal troops.

But having lost both of his flanks as in the 14^th and 15^th brigades in the attack, the 16^th brigade found itself isolated and trapped inside Owerri as the Biafran forces closed in from all sides and effectively sealed of the 5000 Nigerians in Owerri for 7 months before they were finally destroyed.

The Biafran army commander Gen Alex Madiebo, now had 2 options before him; attack immediately and ceaselessly to rout the federal forces or ‘hold them in a bear hug’ and slowly suffocate them using pocket probing attacks and sniper fire to demoralise them, before finally destroying them in a final attack, the later was chosen, due to lack of weapons and manpower to match a 16^th bridge fully equipped with artillery, mortars, armoured cars, rockets and machine guns at lavish levels. All efforts by the Nigerian army to rescue the beleaguered brigade was thwarted by the Biafrans and even food and war materials air dropped by Nigerian airforce fell mostly into Biafran hands due to the successful cracking of the Nigerian communicating systems codes, meaning the Biafrans always knew where and when these drops were to be made.

CONCLUSION

When Umuahia the capital of Biafra fell in April 1969, the Biafran population according to Madiebo, wanted the war to end, to stop all the suffering. Therefore in order to save the situation, the Biafran high command finally decided to recapture Owerri.

The commander of the Biafran army Gen Alex Madiebo, gave the order for the the recapture of Owerri to his divisional commander for the Biafran 14th Div, Col Ogbugo Kalu (from Ohafia), the Col in turn gave the task to Maj Lambert Iheanacho, who had just successfully flushe the Nigerian forces from the Mbaise, Ngor okpala areas relieving the pressure on Owerri, before this final push to clear it.

Also called into action was the Biafran ‘S’ brigade led by Col Timothy Onwuatuegwu and other support groups, when the attack commenced, it was brutal and the entrapped Nigerians responded very well under the command of their highly intelligent and brave C.O. Maj Etuk, who successfully repelled the Biafrans for a while but Maj Iheanacho proved smarter and more determined and routed the Nigerian 16th brigade and recaptured Owerri but not until Maj Etuk successfully struck out and deftly pulled the remnant of his forces out of Owerri in a miraculous escape that only he could have done due to his high military intelligence. Below are some outtakes from the recapture of Owerri:

1. The will to fight on was revived in the dying Biafra.

2. Major Utuk managed to escape towards Port Harcourt (Biafrans believed only he, could have done such a great escape due to his military brilliance).
3. Biafra was now on the Offensive and actually reached Igrita on the outskirts of PH forcing all European oil workers to run back to Lagos.

4. The Dreaded Nigerian 3^rd Marine commandos was destroyed as a fighting force by the Biafran forces, actually they numbered 35,000 initially but after the recapture of Owerri among other battles, only about 10,000 remained.

5. Biafra even now had a slim chance of pushing Nigeria back into the sea and probably win the unwinnable war.

6. Gowon was forced to change all 3 divisional commanders:

Col Obasanjo replaced Col Adekunle at 3^rd Marines

Col Bisalla replaced Col Shuwa at 1^st division

Col Jalo replaced Col Haruna (who had replaced Col Muritala Mohammed after the Abagana disaster).

References:

General Alex Madiebo – The Nigerian Revolution and the Biafran war.

Nowa Omoigui – Federal Nigerian army blunders of the Nigerian civil war.

Colonel Lambert Iheanacho – A guided life.