A United States-based Nigerian-American singer Kal Afrorock says over five million Biafrans (Nigerians from the defunct Republic of Biafra) died in the nearly three-year Nigerian Civil war which ended in 1970. ROBERT EGBE reports that available evidence suggests that the singer exaggerated the Southeast war casualty by possibly up to three million deaths.

The claim
On May 12, 2022, Nigerian-American singer Kal Afrorock published a picture post on his Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=535763174613314&set=a.224410589081909.

The post features his picture and that of a former Nigerian Head of State, Yakubu Gowon, with the caption “His name is Yakubu Gowon. He’s one of the main key figure (sic) responsible for the genoside (sic) of over 5 million Biafran People in 1967. – KAL AFROROCK BIAFRAN PEOPLE NEW CENTURY”


Kal Afrorock, who had 121,000 followers as of the time of the post, repeated the statement in an accompanying post beside the picture and added: “My wish is for him to still be alive to see the Freedom of #Biafra”.

As of May 21, 2022, the post had generated 1,003 reactions, 113 comments and 484 shares on Facebook.

Kal Afrorock tweeted the same claim on his Twitter handle @kalafrorock where he has 95.6K followers. As of May 21, 2022, the tweet had been retweeted 1,224 times, liked 1,131 times and generated 58 comments.

Who is Kal Afrorock?
According to his bio on his website kalafrorock.com, Chukwuka Nwaneri, known professionally as Kal Afrorock, is an Igbo Biafran American singer, songwriter, and record producer.


Born in Abia State, Aba, Biafra and raised in Washington D.C., Kal Afrorock claims he is “the first Igbo Rock, Alternative, Hip hop and R&B artist in America.”

The singer also says he has worked closely with Hollywood actor Will Smith and musical artist Omarr Rambert on producing music for K. Smith, Will Smith’s nephew.

Kal Afrorock also states that in 2007, he linked up with Grammy Award Winning American singer-songwriter Mya. He says he collaborated, produced and wrote several songs for Mya.

Who is Gowon?
As Head of State of Nigeria, General Yakubu Gowon presided over a controversial Nigerian Civil War and delivered the famous “no victor, no vanquished” speech at the war’s end in an effort to promote healing and reconciliation.

The Nigerian Civil War is listed as one of the deadliest in modern history, with some accusing Gowon of crimes against humanity and genocide.

However, Gowon maintains that he committed no wrongdoing during the war and that his leadership saved the country.

Nigerian Civil War
The Nigerian Civil War (6 July 1967 – 15 January 1970; also known as the Nigerian-Biafran War or the Biafran War) was a civil war fought between the government of Nigeria and the Republic of Biafra, a secessionist state which had declared its independence from Nigeria in 1967. Nigeria was led by Gowon, while Biafra was led by Lt. Colonel Odumegwu Ojukwu.

The conflict resulted from political, economic, ethnic, cultural and religious tensions which preceded Britain’s formal decolonization of Nigeria from 1960 to 1963.

Immediate causes of the war in 1966 included ethno-religious violence and anti-Igbo pogroms in Northern Nigeria, a military coup, a counter-coup and persecution of Igbo living in Northern Nigeria. Control over the lucrative oil production in the Niger Delta also played a vital strategic role.

Within a year, the Federal Government troops surrounded Biafra, captured coastal oil facilities and the city of Port Harcourt. A blockade was imposed as a deliberate policy during the ensuing stalemate which led to mass starvation.

Genocide question
Legal scholar Herbert Ekwe-Ekwe and other academics argued that the Biafran war was a genocide, for which no perpetrators have been held accountable.

Critics of this position acknowledge that starvation policies were pursued deliberately and that accountability has not been sought for the 1966 pogroms, but suggest that claims of genocide are incongruous with the fact that the Igbo were not exterminated after the war ended, alongside other arguments such as a lack of clarity surrounding Nigerian intentions and that Nigeria was fighting to retain control of Biafra and its people rather than to expel or exterminate them.

Biafra made a formal complaint of genocide against Igbos to the International Committee on the Investigation of Crimes of Genocide, which concluded that the actions undertaken by the Nigerian government against the Igbo amounted to a genocide.

With special reference to the Asaba Massacre, jurist Emma Okocha described the killings as “the first black-on-black genocide”.

How many people died during the war?
Historians accept as a fact that a huge number of people were killed in the Southeast, either by violence or starvation.

However, there does not seem to be evidence for Kal Afrorock’s claim of five million Biafran deaths by genocide during the civil war.


A former Head of Department, International Studies and Diplomacy, at Benson Idahosa University, Benin, Mr. Mike Okemi reasoned that Kal Afrorock exaggerated the deaths by up to about three million.

Okemi said: “That (five million) figure is ambiguous. It is not true. The widely accepted figure is between one million and two million. Note that when the war ended, as of that time statistics and data in Nigeria were not too accurate. I don’t think there is an exact figure. So the figure is an approximation. We are approximating, but the figure cannot be more than two million.

“One cannot be talking of three million, let alone five million. Especially if we ask the question, what was the population of the entire South East region at that time?”

Much of the data sourced from publications saved on internet archive Wayback Machine back Okemi’s argument.

For instance, The BBC, New York Times, Washington Post, Reuters, etc all did live reports during the war. These reports and several scholarly articles on the war found on the Wayback Machine (archive.org), addressed the issue of how many people died.

The evidence from these organisations as well as Nigerian government data suggest that fewer than two million people died in the then Southeast region.

One of such articles is “The Nigeria-Biafra War: Genocide and the Politics of Memory” by Igbo author, Chima Korieh and published in May 2012.

Korieh, then an associate professor of history at Marquette University, wrote: “The thirty-month-long war led to the death of over one million ethnic Igbos and other Easterners. Described as the first black-on-black genocide in postcolonial Africa, the war had a terrible impact on the Igbo people with its massive civilian death toll.”

Another is “ICE Case Studies: The Biafran War” published by the American University in 1997. It states that during the two and half years of the war, there were about 100,000 overall military casualties, while between 500,000 and two million Biafran civilians died of starvation.

On Thursday, 13 January, 2000, the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) published a report by its Nigeria correspondent Barnaby Philips titled ‘Biafra: Thirty years on’.

“Up to 30,000 Ibos (sic) were killed in fighting with Hausas, and around 1 million refugees fled to their Ibo homeland in the east.

“On 30 May, 1967, the head of the Eastern Region, Colonel Emeka Ojukwu, unilaterally declared the independent Republic of Biafra.

“After initial military gains, the Biafran forces were pushed back.

“Over two-and-a-half years later, 1 million civilians had died in fighting and from famine.

“Photographs of starving children with huge distended stomachs from protein deficiency horrified people around the world,” Phillips said in the report which can be found at http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/596712.stm

However, the Encyclopedia Britannica and the New World Encyclopedia have a higher casualty figure than the other sources.

In ‘Britannica, The Editors of Encyclopaedia. “Biafra”. Encyclopedia Britannica, 8 Nov. 2021, https://www.britannica.com/place/Biafra. Accessed 27 May 2022, the figure is put at between 500,000 and 3 million.

It says: “By 1968 it had lost its seaports and become landlocked; supplies could be brought in only by air. Starvation and disease followed; estimates of mortality during the war generally range from 500,000 to 3,000,000.”

The New World Encyclopedia also quotes a maximum 3 million figure.

“The war cost Nigeria a great deal in terms of lives, money, and its image in the world. During the war, there were 100,000 military casualties and between 500,000 and two million civilians’ deaths from starvation. It has been estimated that up to three million people may have died due to the conflict, most from hunger and disease” – https://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/Nigerian_Civil_War

VERDICT:
While the exact Nigerian Civil War casualty figure cannot be ascertained, based on the above findings, the claim that over five million Biafrans died in the Nigerian Civil war appears to be an exaggeration and is misleading.

The Nation could not find any evidence to support the claim.

This fact check is inspired by the Code for Africa (CfA) Fact-checking Masterclass for West Africa.

https://thenationonlineng.net/fact-check-were-five-million-biafrans-killed-in-1967/amp/

God bless Nigeria

Nawa oo

No be only 5 million,na 100 million,make una no dey disturb us with this issue abeg.
Why be say nobody dey blame ojukwu for plunging the igbos into an unnecessary war?

How do you kill 1 to 3 million people and still be the 3rd largest ethnic group in Nigeria.

Biafra and Nigeria soldiers kill people that is the only fact i know

I think they were even 5 billion.

God will bless Nigeria

Whether they like it or not.

Nigeria wey no get database for the living

Let's investigate.

wordbank:
Nigeria wey no get database for the living

Me I know say the scores pass the number

People are killed in wars. If more than five million made themselves available to be killed, they would be killed.

The way they have been harrassing people who do not support their flat headed dull candidate online, If they start another senseless nonsense after losing next year's election, the 1967 to 1970 treatment will be repeated.

Thank God for good candidates

Ekundayo7574:
A United States-based Nigerian-American singer Kal Afrorock says over five million Biafrans (Nigerians from the defunct Republic of Biafra) died in the nearly three-year Nigerian Civil war which ended in 1970. ROBERT EGBE reports that available evidence suggests that the singer exaggerated the Southeast war casualty by possibly up to three million deaths.

The claim
On May 12, 2022, Nigerian-American singer Kal Afrorock published a picture post on his Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=535763174613314&set=a.224410589081909.

The post features his picture and that of a former Nigerian Head of State, Yakubu Gowon, with the caption “His name is Yakubu Gowon. He’s one of the main key figure (sic) responsible for the genoside (sic) of over 5 million Biafran People in 1967. – KAL AFROROCK BIAFRAN PEOPLE NEW CENTURY”


Kal Afrorock, who had 121,000 followers as of the time of the post, repeated the statement in an accompanying post beside the picture and added: “My wish is for him to still be alive to see the Freedom of #Biafra”.

As of May 21, 2022, the post had generated 1,003 reactions, 113 comments and 484 shares on Facebook.

Kal Afrorock tweeted the same claim on his Twitter handle @kalafrorock where he has 95.6K followers. As of May 21, 2022, the tweet had been retweeted 1,224 times, liked 1,131 times and generated 58 comments.

Who is Kal Afrorock?
According to his bio on his website kalafrorock.com, Chukwuka Nwaneri, known professionally as Kal Afrorock, is an Igbo Biafran American singer, songwriter, and record producer.


Born in Abia State, Aba, Biafra and raised in Washington D.C., Kal Afrorock claims he is “the first Igbo Rock, Alternative, Hip hop and R&B artist in America.”

The singer also says he has worked closely with Hollywood actor Will Smith and musical artist Omarr Rambert on producing music for K. Smith, Will Smith’s nephew.

Kal Afrorock also states that in 2007, he linked up with Grammy Award Winning American singer-songwriter Mya. He says he collaborated, produced and wrote several songs for Mya.

Who is Gowon?
As Head of State of Nigeria, General Yakubu Gowon presided over a controversial Nigerian Civil War and delivered the famous “no victor, no vanquished” speech at the war’s end in an effort to promote healing and reconciliation.

The Nigerian Civil War is listed as one of the deadliest in modern history, with some accusing Gowon of crimes against humanity and genocide.

However, Gowon maintains that he committed no wrongdoing during the war and that his leadership saved the country.

Nigerian Civil War
The Nigerian Civil War (6 July 1967 – 15 January 1970; also known as the Nigerian-Biafran War or the Biafran War) was a civil war fought between the government of Nigeria and the Republic of Biafra, a secessionist state which had declared its independence from Nigeria in 1967. Nigeria was led by Gowon, while Biafra was led by Lt. Colonel Odumegwu Ojukwu.

The conflict resulted from political, economic, ethnic, cultural and religious tensions which preceded Britain’s formal decolonization of Nigeria from 1960 to 1963.

Immediate causes of the war in 1966 included ethno-religious violence and anti-Igbo pogroms in Northern Nigeria, a military coup, a counter-coup and persecution of Igbo living in Northern Nigeria. Control over the lucrative oil production in the Niger Delta also played a vital strategic role.

Within a year, the Federal Government troops surrounded Biafra, captured coastal oil facilities and the city of Port Harcourt. A blockade was imposed as a deliberate policy during the ensuing stalemate which led to mass starvation.

Genocide question
Legal scholar Herbert Ekwe-Ekwe and other academics argued that the Biafran war was a genocide, for which no perpetrators have been held accountable.

Critics of this position acknowledge that starvation policies were pursued deliberately and that accountability has not been sought for the 1966 pogroms, but suggest that claims of genocide are incongruous with the fact that the Igbo were not exterminated after the war ended, alongside other arguments such as a lack of clarity surrounding Nigerian intentions and that Nigeria was fighting to retain control of Biafra and its people rather than to expel or exterminate them.

Biafra made a formal complaint of genocide against Igbos to the International Committee on the Investigation of Crimes of Genocide, which concluded that the actions undertaken by the Nigerian government against the Igbo amounted to a genocide.

With special reference to the Asaba Massacre, jurist Emma Okocha described the killings as “the first black-on-black genocide”.

How many people died during the war?
Historians accept as a fact that a huge number of people were killed in the Southeast, either by violence or starvation.

However, there does not seem to be evidence for Kal Afrorock’s claim of five million Biafran deaths by genocide during the civil war.


A former Head of Department, International Studies and Diplomacy, at Benson Idahosa University, Benin, Mr. Mike Okemi reasoned that Kal Afrorock exaggerated the deaths by up to about three million.

Okemi said: “That (five million) figure is ambiguous. It is not true. The widely accepted figure is between one million and two million. Note that when the war ended, as of that time statistics and data in Nigeria were not too accurate. I don’t think there is an exact figure. So the figure is an approximation. We are approximating, but the figure cannot be more than two million.

“One cannot be talking of three million, let alone five million. Especially if we ask the question, what was the population of the entire South East region at that time?”

Much of the data sourced from publications saved on internet archive Wayback Machine back Okemi’s argument.

For instance, The BBC, New York Times, Washington Post, Reuters, etc all did live reports during the war. These reports and several scholarly articles on the war found on the Wayback Machine (archive.org), addressed the issue of how many people died.

The evidence from these organisations as well as Nigerian government data suggest that fewer than two million people died in the then Southeast region.

One of such articles is “The Nigeria-Biafra War: Genocide and the Politics of Memory” by Igbo author, Chima Korieh and published in May 2012.

Korieh, then an associate professor of history at Marquette University, wrote: “The thirty-month-long war led to the death of over one million ethnic Igbos and other Easterners. Described as the first black-on-black genocide in postcolonial Africa, the war had a terrible impact on the Igbo people with its massive civilian death toll.”

Another is “ICE Case Studies: The Biafran War” published by the American University in 1997. It states that during the two and half years of the war, there were about 100,000 overall military casualties, while between 500,000 and two million Biafran civilians died of starvation.

On Thursday, 13 January, 2000, the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) published a report by its Nigeria correspondent Barnaby Philips titled ‘Biafra: Thirty years on’.

“Up to 30,000 Ibos (sic) were killed in fighting with Hausas, and around 1 million refugees fled to their Ibo homeland in the east.

“On 30 May, 1967, the head of the Eastern Region, Colonel Emeka Ojukwu, unilaterally declared the independent Republic of Biafra.

“After initial military gains, the Biafran forces were pushed back.

“Over two-and-a-half years later, 1 million civilians had died in fighting and from famine.

“Photographs of starving children with huge distended stomachs from protein deficiency horrified people around the world,” Phillips said in the report which can be found at http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/596712.stm

However, the Encyclopedia Britannica and the New World Encyclopedia have a higher casualty figure than the other sources.

In ‘Britannica, The Editors of Encyclopaedia. “Biafra”. Encyclopedia Britannica, 8 Nov. 2021, https://www.britannica.com/place/Biafra. Accessed 27 May 2022, the figure is put at between 500,000 and 3 million.

It says: “By 1968 it had lost its seaports and become landlocked; supplies could be brought in only by air. Starvation and disease followed; estimates of mortality during the war generally range from 500,000 to 3,000,000.”

The New World Encyclopedia also quotes a maximum 3 million figure.

“The war cost Nigeria a great deal in terms of lives, money, and its image in the world. During the war, there were 100,000 military casualties and between 500,000 and two million civilians’ deaths from starvation. It has been estimated that up to three million people may have died due to the conflict, most from hunger and disease” – https://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/Nigerian_Civil_War

VERDICT:
While the exact Nigerian Civil War casualty figure cannot be ascertained, based on the above findings, the claim that over five million Biafrans died in the Nigerian Civil war appears to be an exaggeration and is misleading.

The Nation could not find any evidence to support the claim.

This fact check is inspired by the Code for Africa (CfA) Fact-checking Masterclass for West Africa.

https://thenationonlineng.net/fact-check-were-five-million-biafrans-killed-in-1967/amp/

This una mumu fact check. Just make sure you don’t make the mistake of playing politics with the blood of the victims of the civil war. Because na God go punish all of una. Where there was air, land and sea blockade with constant bombardment of mostly a territory as small as the South Eastern region. And you think the 5million figures is exaggerated.

The only way out is referendum then Biafra

PresidObi:
God bless Nigeria

No more zoo?
Nnamdi Kanu is shocked

DigitalLawyer:


This una mumu fact check. Just make sure you don’t make the mistake of playing politics with the blood of the victims of the civil war. Because na God go punish all of una. Where there was air, land and sea blockade with constant bombardment of mostly a territory as small as the South Eastern region. And you think the 5million figures is exaggerated.

Would you mind showing some pictures of the bombardment on schools, buildings, banks, houses, farms, etc.. Any kind of pictures that depicts bombardment.

Yes and next time it will be 10 million.

GeneralPula:
It was actually 50million Biafrans

It was 100 million.

These folks lie with so much ease. I read the " my mum told me" account of Uju Anya below and I couldn't help myself but laughed to an extent i wasn't able to hold my phone for a minute.

"One of the most horrific stories that I will never forget for as long as I live is one my mother told me. She said the airplanes that were sent to bomb the villages flew so low that one could see the pilot inside the cockpits, laughing as he sprayed people with machine guns"

Jennifer663:
Nawa oo

It could be more or less, because the Nigerian government at that time were bombing markets and everything that was moving. Onitsha and Owerri were completely destroyed by Gowon. Infact Onitsha main market which was the biggest market in West Africa at that time was completely burnt by Gowon.

Am sure you have never heard of aburi accord. I do not blame you for your ignorance, I blame buhari and his tifnubu tht removed history from our schools

Allahmuzayaf:
No be only 5 million,na 100 million,make una no dey disturb us with this issue abeg.
Why be say nobody dey blame ojukwu for plunging the igbos into an unnecessary war?

Post the links for the New York Times and guardian, stop posting nonsense nairaland where illiterates like you are paid to tLk rubbish

spearman:
Ibos committed genocide in Niger Delta. Biafra massacred minorities.

https://www.nairaland.com/7338138/new-york-times-it-been

New York Times: It Had Been Biafra's Non‐ibo Minority That Suffered Most

https://www.nairaland.com/7335653/biafra-unqualified-evil-minority-lands

The Guardian: Biafra Was An Unqualified Evil In Minority Lands.

Allahmuzayaf:
No be only 5 million,na 100 million,make una no dey disturb us with this issue abeg.
Why be say nobody dey blame ojukwu for plunging the igbos into an unnecessary war?

Chronic unity Begging Fulani Muslim pi**g..

Keep blaming Dim Ojukwu, while leaving Gowon that failed to implement the Aburi accord, which lead to civil war..

vanunu:

It could be more or less, because the Nigerian government at that time were bombing markets and everything that was moving. Onitsha and Owerri were completely destroyed by Gowon. Infact Onitsha main market which was the biggest market in West Africa at that time was completely burnt by Gowon.

Pictures, images, or collage of the so called bombings, perhaps as documented in any pro- biafran archives? or is this another " my uncle told me tales by moonlight"?

femisplash:

Pictures, images, or collage of the so called bombings, perhaps as documented in any pro- biafran archives? or is this another " my uncle told me tales by moonlight"?

You are simply stewpid, for demanding for pictures,

vanunu:


You are simply stewpid, for demanding for pictures,

You must be stewpid for providing pictures of starved mothers and children to gain public sympathy in the first place.
You better provide images of bombed structures or you spread your lies only among your biafra retards.

femisplash:

Would you mind showing some pictures of the bombardment on schools, buildings, banks, houses, farms, etc.. Any kind of pictures that depicts bombardment.

Google is your friend.

DigitalLawyer:


Google is your friend.

Mr Google, why are you reluctant to show us what you claimed?. I have been asking you guys for ages yet none of you could provide picture proofs aside lying and usual propaganda.

The Igbos believe in reincarnation!!! Fact!!!

Most of those soldiers that died in the war are now the current igbos you’re seeing. They’ve reincarnated!!! That’s why they’re still pursuing the Biafran course with full vigor. The Igbos outside Nigeria are the ones now leading the charge.

You’re free to discard what I have just written

But it is what it is…

This is a very chai situaSHUN.