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Between
May 1966 and January 1970, millions of Ndigbo were made to become refugees
in their fatherland. The first wave of refugees came to the East from
all parts of the Nigerian Federation in the wake of massacres that were
unleashed on Ndigbo who resided outside the then Eastern Region. Most
hurriedly abandoned places where they had resided all their lives without
even any clothes on their backs. Some fled in panic without being able
to locate the rest of their families.
The next wave of refugees fled from their ancestral hometowns inside Biafra
to stay out of the range of the artillery guns of the federal troops that
were advancing from the north, west and south. Again, many people fled
their homes leaving all their possessions behind except for what they
could carry on their heads. Millions had to trek for days, without food
and clean water, to makeshift refugee camps which were mostly village
primary school buildings. Without food and money, these internal refugees
had to eke out a living by any means they could. To avert severe malnutrition,
cassava leaves and grass featured prominently in many refugees’
diets. Exposure to the elements of weather and lack of sanitary facilities
resulted in rampant epidemics which brought about the untimely deaths
of several hundreds of thousands, especially children and the very old.
As the war intensified, savage and indiscriminate aerial bombing campaigns
were unleashed by federal troops who utilized the services of Egyptian
and Russian mercenary pilots to terrorize civilian populations inside
Biafra. Urban centers like Aba, Umuahia and Owerri were bombarded daily
from the air. The only air link to the outside world for Biafra, the Uli
Airport, was daily attacked by Nigerian war planes to ensure that relief
flights were totally disrupted.
Of all the indignations of the Biafra War, being made to be refugees in
one’s own fatherland was the most humiliating to Ndigbo. Igbos were
stripped bare and left to die like flies as they fought for survival for
more than 30 months while the world looked on.
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