At the start of the Biafran war, the Biafran forces had the air advantage albeit for a short while due to its possession of a B25 and B26 with 3 helicopters, all acquired just around the start of hostilities, according to Gen Madiebo the Biafran GOC, the B25 never flew because she was too old to take to the skies. Madiebo contends that the B26 flew sorties to mostly military targets in the North of Nigeria and that the helicopters were good at stalling Nigerian artillery and mortar fire at war fronts, giving the Biafrans a breather.
There were unsuccessful Biafran air attacks in Lagos with a plane shot down over Lagos, other accounts say an explosion on board did it in for the Biafrans. But later in year of 1967, despite the refusal of the British government to supply Nigeria with jet fighters, the Russians filled the gap and supplied Nigeria with, some say 20 MIG fighters initially and subsequently gave Ilyushin planes as well as Delphins. These acquisitions quickly switched the air advantage to the Nigerian airforce and the Biafran airforce ran aground with its meagre and out-dated hardware.
But as seen by the attached reports, the Nigerian Airforce set about bombing mainly civilian targets like Schools, Hospitals and Market areas killing hundreds of Biafran civilians, mostly women and children. These heinous acts were successfully reported to world by the Biafran media and international observers and it severely embarrassed the British government and also galvanised the Biafran will to fight on.
Reacting, the British government sent an envoy to Lagos to speak to Gen Gowon and the Nigerian Air chief Shittu Alao and in London, the British Foreign Sec Micheal Stewart visited the Nigerian High Commissioner Brig Babafemi Ogundipe, the British cautioned the Nigerians on the indiscriminate bombing of civilians, and the Nigerians responded with reiterations of it orders to its pilots to only target military targets on one hand, and in the case of Col Shittu Alao, he asked the Biafrans to move its miltary away from civilian targets.
Some other sources claim that the Nigerian Government did admit grudgingly, that its Airforce has indeed been bombing civilian targets and that it aims to do something about it.
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Ref: The Nigerian Revolution and the Biafran War by Gen Alex Madiebo.
The Soviet Union and thr Nigerian Civil War: A Triumph of Realism – https://www.jstor.org
