ipodstinks:
Chief (Dr) Chinua Achebe wrote a book titled
“There Was a Country” which had sparked a lot of
discussion on the pages of many of our National
Newspapers of the resent. The pity of it was that
Achebe had touched on the raw parts of the
Yoruba People of this country and many had
commented promptly and appropriately.

My comment to you today, has very little or nothing
to do with the tribal issues but as affecting the
military, the 3MCDO operation area during the civil
war and to Sector 3 of 3MCDO of which I was the
commander in particular, from 1967 to 1969. I was
also the Chief of Staff of 3MCDO during this same
period.
This book will be out there forever, and I need to
defend myself and my actions during the civil war
for posterity.
Nothing but the truth will be good enough for today
and tomorrow.
My account therefore will not be what I was told or
what I heard as contained in many parts of
Achebe's book. This is on the spot account of
events described in Achebe's book. I have just
completed reading it. Chief Achebe wrote about
the following military situations, which I know are
inconsistent with the truth:-
a Asaba Massacre – Page 133
b The Calabar Massacre -
Uyo – The brutality and blood lust of the
Nigerian Soldiers Page 137
c. The capture of Afikpo
d The Capture of PH - After several weeks of
sustained air, land and sea pounding, a period
reportedly characterized by military atrocities -
rapes, looting, outright brigandry – Port Harcourt
fell to the Nigerians on May 12, 1968. – Page 137
e. The Economic Blockade and starvation-
pages 209 – 210
I will therefore take these issues one by one and
expect that there will be questions at the end of
my discussions with you on the points made or
generally on the book, since I have read it.

Asaba Massacre.
This was on the night of 8th August, 1967 at about
10pm. I was the commander of the Federal troops
of 4th Area Command at Asaba. The Biafran troops
broke the barricade on Niger River bridge and
went straight to a place called “Ogbe Hausa” at the
cable point; where the Hausa community lived.
Biafran troops pounced on them and killed many of
them. The few that escaped were moved down at
Onitsha end, the people jubilated. Before my
troops could reach me to report the situation,
about 20 Biafran troops attacked me at the
catering Rest House where I was living at the time. I
fought my way through, and overpowered the 20
Biafran troops and reported the situation to my
boss Major Henry Igboba at Agbor. The story of
how I did that is contained in my book.
b) When the tide turned and the Federal Troops
recaptured the Midwestern Region and Asaba, the
Hausas among them retaliated by killing the people
at Asaba. The Hausa who were there had
never denied doing that.
c) Please read the excerpts of this story in a
book written by a Midwestern Asaba Ibo author
titled “The Blood on the Niger” - pages 28 and 62

[b]Excerpts[/b]: Lieutenant Wokocha of the invading forces awakened one of the commanders of the Midwest Fourth Area Command in Asaba, Major Alabi Isama from sleep at the Catering Rest House. Major Alabi escaped arrest by shooting his way through and
headed straight to Agbor......
Elsewhere at the ’Ogbe Hausa’ settlement (the
equivalent name to the northern ‘Sabon Gari’
residential quarters of migrant elements living in the
traditional Muslim Hausa states), a former teacher of
35 years experience, tells an equally hair-raising
story. But before then, let us backup to the scenario
at Ogbe Hausa the day Biafrans crossed the Niger.
The Hausa settlement at the end of Cable Point is as
old as Asaba Township itself. It developed during the
trading boom of the Royal Niger Company. Trade on
the Niger had brought a lot of Nigerians together
buying, exchanging and selling goods. Most of these
stranger elements from the North – Hausas, Fulanis,
Nupes, Tivs and Igalas decided to stay on in Asaba.
Many were born there and did not have deeper ties with their own Northern roots, and during the crisis,
did not quite know where to run back to. These
were the Nigerians that a group of brigands from
Onitsha fell upon on the morning of 9th August, 1967.
These youths, mainly aggrieved refugees from the
North apparently had not forgotten the 1966
debacle in the North. In vengeance, they
accompanied the Biafran Brigade and before the
Asaba indigenes knew what was happening, a lot of
damage had been done in Ogbe Hausa. Many were
rescued and given safe conduct through Auchi by
road while others proceeded by boat through the
river Niger. This group never made it, for they were
ambushed at Onono near Onitsha and dealt with.
This was the situation as the Federal troops, now on
the offensive and in command, approached Ogbe
Hausa quarters, Asaba
* In short the Hausas were all killed.
The rest of the story is in my book now being
published which hopefully should be launched in
January / February 2013.
The Calabar Massacre – page 137 of Achebe’s
book.
I was the Chief of Staff of 3MCDO and Col
Benjamin Adekunle was the commander. Achebe’s
story here was that the Nigerian forces over ran
Calabar in early 1968 without much resistance or
investment. He further wrote that the Nigerian
Forces decided to purge the city of its Igbo
inhabitants and that by the time the Nigerians were
done, at least 1,000 and perhaps 2,000 Ibos had
been killed.

a. This is a very unfortunate comment.
Intelligence report showed that Biafran troops
had alienated the Efik people of Calabar, did not
recruit many into the Biafran Army and had lousily
defended the town and the beach area of
Atimbo. 3MDCO therefore led by Col Adekunle had
an amphibious landing at Calabar which proved
that the town and the beaches were not defended
by Biafran troops with the seriousness that it
deserved; and the natives welcomed 3MCDO with
all the enthusiasm and the support it deserved.
b. I landed 3 days after the amphibious
landing and the natives gave us all the support we
needed – medical, casualty evacuation, food, off
loading the ship of our supplies and heavy
weapons. These stories and relevant pictures are
contained in my book.
c. Achebe then said, on the same page 137
that the Nigerian forces opened fire and murdered
fourteen nurses and the patients in the wards in
Uyo.
Here is an excerpts from a book titled “The Nigerian
Revolution and the Biafran War” by AlexanderA. Madiebo, the commander of Biafran Forces on
page 240 and 242 of his book.

....On the 9th of March the enemy landed at Oron and
then on, no one including the Brigade
Commander Aniebo, really knew what was
happening until Ikot-Ekpene, 50 miles from Oron, also
fell. However, within hours of enemy landing, there
was firing in many towns and villages between Oron
and Uyo. Thereafter, wherever our troops tried to
deploy in the area, they fell into an ambush. That confusion continued until the 11th when firing
started inside Uyo town and we soon discovered
that the “enemy,” whoever he might be, was there.
In short Uyo had fallen! Our own troops were pulling
back in disarray, absolutely unable to establish a
defensive position anywhere along the route. Having
lost complete control of his brigade with no
prospects of regaining it, Colonel Aniebo was
dismissed from command and summoned to
appear before the Head of State, Ojukwu...

Here also is an excerpt of the book titled “Nigeria
and Biafra my Story” by Phippip Effiong, the Chief of
Defence Staff of the Biafran Armed Forces on
page 220 and 221 of his book:

.....When I visited the Brigade shortly before the
invasion, particularly in Uyo and Calabar areas, I
received a lot of complaints from the local people
about unsavoury treatment by our (Biafran) troops. I
drew Colonel Eze’s attention to these complaints and
urged him to improve relations with the civilians. At
Uyo, military/civilian relations were so strained that I
had to personally intervene to release a local
newspaper editor from detention. Such acts on my
part were not just a question of feeling alone for my
people, but also a question of justice and sense of
belonging in an emergent Biafran State. Were these
arrests, false accusations, and detentions a sign of
things to come in an independent Biafra? These issues bothered me as they would anyone else in
my position then.....
..... With the fall of Calabar, Itu , Uyo and Ikot Ekpene
the rest of the mainland was militarily threatened.
Before this threat became imminent, I had strongly
suggested to Ojukwu that as Ikot Ekpene was a vital
junction town. It should be strongly defended. All he
did was to sarcastically remind me that in fact we
should also put a battalion at Nnewi. Nnewi was
Ojukwus’s homerown as Ikot Ekpene was supposed to
be mine, because I lived and grew up there.
However, I am from Ibiono in Itu, and not Ikot Ekpene.
After I received his sarcastic message, I did not
mention the subject again. As it eventually turned out,
the fall of Ikot Ekpene hastened the collapse of the
Biafran 12th Division and, consequently, of Biafra....

d) More of the story and pictures of the capture of
Calabar, Uyo Ikot – Ekpere are contained in
chapter 5 of my book.
1. (Pictures) – Building Bridges – Page 85 of my book.
2. (Picture) Natures helping to build the roads and
bridges – page 86 of my book.
3. Map for the capture of Obubra – page 87 of my
book.

Diiet:
Achebe was a tribalist and his
books are full of lies.His books contribute a lot to the confrontations we are seeing today between yorubas and ibos. I won't say more than this because he's now dead.

ipodstinks:
Chief (Dr) Chinua Achebe wrote a book titled
“There Was a Country” which had sparked a lot of
discussion on the pages of many of our National
Newspapers of the resent. The pity of it was that
Achebe had touched on the raw parts of the
Yoruba People of this country and many had
commented promptly and appropriately.

My comment to you today, has very little or nothing
to do with the tribal issues but as affecting the
military, the 3MCDO operation area during the civil
war and to Sector 3 of 3MCDO of which I was the
commander in particular, from 1967 to 1969. I was
also the Chief of Staff of 3MCDO during this same
period.
This book will be out there forever, and I need to
defend myself and my actions during the civil war
for posterity.
Nothing but the truth will be good enough for today
and tomorrow.
My account therefore will not be what I was told or
what I heard as contained in many parts of
Achebe's book. This is on the spot account of
events described in Achebe's book. I have just
completed reading it. Chief Achebe wrote about
the following military situations, which I know are
inconsistent with the truth:-
a Asaba Massacre – Page 133
b The Calabar Massacre -
Uyo – The brutality and blood lust of the
Nigerian Soldiers Page 137
c. The capture of Afikpo
d The Capture of PH - After several weeks of
sustained air, land and sea pounding, a period
reportedly characterized by military atrocities -
rapes, looting, outright brigandry – Port Harcourt
fell to the Nigerians on May 12, 1968. – Page 137
e. The Economic Blockade and starvation-
pages 209 – 210
I will therefore take these issues one by one and
expect that there will be questions at the end of
my discussions with you on the points made or
generally on the book, since I have read it.

Asaba Massacre.
This was on the night of 8th August, 1967 at about
10pm. I was the commander of the Federal troops
of 4th Area Command at Asaba. The Biafran troops
broke the barricade on Niger River bridge and
went straight to a place called “Ogbe Hausa” at the
cable point; where the Hausa community lived.
Biafran troops pounced on them and killed many of
them. The few that escaped were moved down at
Onitsha end, the people jubilated. Before my
troops could reach me to report the situation,
about 20 Biafran troops attacked me at the
catering Rest House where I was living at the time. I
fought my way through, and overpowered the 20
Biafran troops and reported the situation to my
boss Major Henry Igboba at Agbor. The story of
how I did that is contained in my book.
b) When the tide turned and the Federal Troops
recaptured the Midwestern Region and Asaba, the
Hausas among them retaliated by killing the people
at Asaba. The Hausa who were there had
never denied doing that.
c) Please read the excerpts of this story in a
book written by a Midwestern Asaba Ibo author
titled “The Blood on the Niger” - pages 28 and 62

[b]Excerpts[/b]: Lieutenant Wokocha of the invading forces awakened one of the commanders of the Midwest Fourth Area Command in Asaba, Major Alabi Isama from sleep at the Catering Rest House. Major Alabi escaped arrest by shooting his way through and
headed straight to Agbor......
Elsewhere at the ’Ogbe Hausa’ settlement (the
equivalent name to the northern ‘Sabon Gari’
residential quarters of migrant elements living in the
traditional Muslim Hausa states), a former teacher of
35 years experience, tells an equally hair-raising
story. But before then, let us backup to the scenario
at Ogbe Hausa the day Biafrans crossed the Niger.
The Hausa settlement at the end of Cable Point is as
old as Asaba Township itself. It developed during the
trading boom of the Royal Niger Company. Trade on
the Niger had brought a lot of Nigerians together
buying, exchanging and selling goods. Most of these
stranger elements from the North – Hausas, Fulanis,
Nupes, Tivs and Igalas decided to stay on in Asaba.
Many were born there and did not have deeper ties with their own Northern roots, and during the crisis,
did not quite know where to run back to. These
were the Nigerians that a group of brigands from
Onitsha fell upon on the morning of 9th August, 1967.
These youths, mainly aggrieved refugees from the
North apparently had not forgotten the 1966
debacle in the North. In vengeance, they
accompanied the Biafran Brigade and before the
Asaba indigenes knew what was happening, a lot of
damage had been done in Ogbe Hausa. Many were
rescued and given safe conduct through Auchi by
road while others proceeded by boat through the
river Niger. This group never made it, for they were
ambushed at Onono near Onitsha and dealt with.
This was the situation as the Federal troops, now on
the offensive and in command, approached Ogbe
Hausa quarters, Asaba
* In short the Hausas were all killed.
The rest of the story is in my book now being
published which hopefully should be launched in
January / February 2013.
The Calabar Massacre – page 137 of Achebe’s
book.
I was the Chief of Staff of 3MCDO and Col
Benjamin Adekunle was the commander. Achebe’s
story here was that the Nigerian forces over ran
Calabar in early 1968 without much resistance or
investment. He further wrote that the Nigerian
Forces decided to purge the city of its Igbo
inhabitants and that by the time the Nigerians were
done, at least 1,000 and perhaps 2,000 Ibos had
been killed.

a. This is a very unfortunate comment.
Intelligence report showed that Biafran troops
had alienated the Efik people of Calabar, did not
recruit many into the Biafran Army and had lousily
defended the town and the beach area of
Atimbo. 3MDCO therefore led by Col Adekunle had
an amphibious landing at Calabar which proved
that the town and the beaches were not defended
by Biafran troops with the seriousness that it
deserved; and the natives welcomed 3MCDO with
all the enthusiasm and the support it deserved.
b. I landed 3 days after the amphibious
landing and the natives gave us all the support we
needed – medical, casualty evacuation, food, off
loading the ship of our supplies and heavy
weapons. These stories and relevant pictures are
contained in my book.
c. Achebe then said, on the same page 137
that the Nigerian forces opened fire and murdered
fourteen nurses and the patients in the wards in
Uyo.
Here is an excerpts from a book titled “The Nigerian
Revolution and the Biafran War” by AlexanderA. Madiebo, the commander of Biafran Forces on
page 240 and 242 of his book.

....On the 9th of March the enemy landed at Oron and
then on, no one including the Brigade
Commander Aniebo, really knew what was
happening until Ikot-Ekpene, 50 miles from Oron, also
fell. However, within hours of enemy landing, there
was firing in many towns and villages between Oron
and Uyo. Thereafter, wherever our troops tried to
deploy in the area, they fell into an ambush. That confusion continued until the 11th when firing
started inside Uyo town and we soon discovered
that the “enemy,” whoever he might be, was there.
In short Uyo had fallen! Our own troops were pulling
back in disarray, absolutely unable to establish a
defensive position anywhere along the route. Having
lost complete control of his brigade with no
prospects of regaining it, Colonel Aniebo was
dismissed from command and summoned to
appear before the Head of State, Ojukwu...

Here also is an excerpt of the book titled “Nigeria
and Biafra my Story” by Phippip Effiong, the Chief of
Defence Staff of the Biafran Armed Forces on
page 220 and 221 of his book:

.....When I visited the Brigade shortly before the
invasion, particularly in Uyo and Calabar areas, I
received a lot of complaints from the local people
about unsavoury treatment by our (Biafran) troops. I
drew Colonel Eze’s attention to these complaints and
urged him to improve relations with the civilians. At
Uyo, military/civilian relations were so strained that I
had to personally intervene to release a local
newspaper editor from detention. Such acts on my
part were not just a question of feeling alone for my
people, but also a question of justice and sense of
belonging in an emergent Biafran State. Were these
arrests, false accusations, and detentions a sign of
things to come in an independent Biafra? These issues bothered me as they would anyone else in
my position then.....
..... With the fall of Calabar, Itu , Uyo and Ikot Ekpene
the rest of the mainland was militarily threatened.
Before this threat became imminent, I had strongly
suggested to Ojukwu that as Ikot Ekpene was a vital
junction town. It should be strongly defended. All he
did was to sarcastically remind me that in fact we
should also put a battalion at Nnewi. Nnewi was
Ojukwus’s homerown as Ikot Ekpene was supposed to
be mine, because I lived and grew up there.
However, I am from Ibiono in Itu, and not Ikot Ekpene.
After I received his sarcastic message, I did not
mention the subject again. As it eventually turned out,
the fall of Ikot Ekpene hastened the collapse of the
Biafran 12th Division and, consequently, of Biafra....

d) More of the story and pictures of the capture of
Calabar, Uyo Ikot – Ekpere are contained in
chapter 5 of my book.
1. (Pictures) – Building Bridges – Page 85 of my book.
2. (Picture) Natures helping to build the roads and
bridges – page 86 of my book.
3. Map for the capture of Obubra – page 87 of my
book.

knowledgeable:


Yorubas must always figure out a way to defend the atrocious nature of the Hausa/fulani in Nigeria, especially where it has to do with Igbo matters, at the same time seeking the hands of Igbo women in marriage.

So what are those positive attributes they see in a culture that they are seeking to destroy?. They have sacrificed their own lives to be together with Igbos at the same time seeking their destruction,(politically, economically etc)while Igbos have sacrificed their own lives to part ways with Yorubas, at the same time don't care about any thing Yoruba(politically, economically etc) including their women.

Conclusion: Yorubas are proactively and offensively engaging the Igbos, while Igbos are reactionary responding to their offensivenes......Therefore, Yorubas are the most dangerous existential threat to the survival of Igbo people, worst than Hausa/fulani.

GodDeyCraze:
Who is Alabi Osama?!

GodDeyCraze:
Who is Alabi Osama?!

knowledgeable:


Yorubas must always figure out a way to defend the atrocious nature of the Hausa/fulani in Nigeria, especially where it has to do with Igbo matters, at the same time seeking the hands of Igbo women in marriage.

So what are those positive attributes they see in a culture that they are seeking to destroy?. They have sacrificed their own lives to be together with Igbos at the same time seeking their destruction,(politically, economically etc)while Igbos have sacrificed their own lives to part ways with Yorubas, at the same time don't care about any thing Yoruba(politically, economically etc) including their women.

Conclusion: Yorubas are proactively and offensively engaging the Igbos, while Igbos are reactionary responding to their offensivenes......Therefore, Yorubas are the most dangerous existential threat to the survival of Igbo people, worst than Hausa/fulani.

ZorGBUooeh:
Stupid man
Why dint he say all this rubbish when Achebe the great was alive?

ZorGBUooeh:
Stupid man
Why dint he say all this rubbish when Achebe the great was alive?

bakynes:
The truth is that a Biafran cannot write about the War and won't be biased likewise a Nigerian.

The accounts of a foreigner is the best we can get from the War.

I keep telling Igbos that, the Biafran Army also did alot of atrocities, all is fair in War those days.

My Mother told me about her eye witness of how the Biafran Air Force did an aerial bombardment on Lagos,they dropped a Bomb right in Ebute-metta Casino killing Hundreds of People, she said all the glass widows in my grandfather's house were shattered due to the proximity to the Casino, they went to the scene later and they saw skulls of human heads and burnt bodies.

Likewise the aerial bombardment that happened in Kaduna and Kano which made many Hausa-Fulani enroll for the Army to fight in the War.

So both the Nigerian and Biafran Forces were brutal just because the Nigerian Army eventually won doesn't mean Igbos should start seeking sympathy when they also carried out massive slaughter on the minorities and on Nigerians.

GodDeyCraze:
Who is Alabi Osama?!

ipodstinks:
(5) The plan to capture PH was a modified version
of Gen. George S. Patton of the USA 7th Army
landing in Sicily during WW II. The full story is in my
book, on page 164.
(a) We addressed troops before any operations
against ill discipline.
(b) We never captured towns en route by attacking
them; we normally enveloped them to avoid
getting bogged down in having to clear each town
of Biafran troops. We had no time.
(c) The natives were our best friends – Just see
some of the pictures here. They gave us food, they
assisted in carrying our supplies and even fetched
firewood for our cooking as I had to feed over
40,000 troops on the move and in the rainy
season without Kerosene and cooking gas – Read
all about these in my coming book.
(e) See how not to do it. On pages 128 and 129 of
Achike Udenwa’s book titled “Nigerian Biafra civil
war – My experience.” He wrote about how Biafran troops recaptured Owerri, which took 7 months –
from October 1968 to April 1969. he wrote that his
Divisional commander Col Agbugo Kalu, (who by
the way was also my boss when I was tactics
instructor at NMTC Kaduna – 1965 to 1967) in
company of his brigade commander, Lt. Col Asoya
addressed his (Biafran) troops, and told them the
importance of clearing Owerri.
He further wrote that ammunition was shared and
so were the tasks of capturing Holy Rosary Girls
School, the catholic Bishop’s Court, Assumta
Roundabout etc. In fact Udenwa was shot on the
thigh and was evacuated to the hospital at Awo –
Omamma.
* I had no time for all these and that was why
Biafran troops got bogged down at Owerri for 7
months. It was a lousy and elementary tactics good only for WW I of 1914, not even for WW II of 1945.
Thank God that Capt. Udenwa was not killed
obeying such illegitimate order from his
commander.
5. The capture of Aba on pages 137 and 138, Chief Achebe wrote about Aba operations that the Third Division slowly marched north, crossing the Imo River, towards the market town of Aba. He further wrote that with heavy casualties along the way, Adekunle and his
men shot gleefully through a fierce Biafran
resistance and took Aba in August and Owerri in
September. The Aba offensive was particularly
gruesome.
On page 138, he wrote that on Third Division entry
into Aba, the Nigerian Soldiers massacred more
than 2000 civilians. Achebe also wrote about a report written by one Susan Masid of the French
Press Agency on the horrifying incident.
Comment
a. When we got to Aba it was a ghost town. Biafran
troops blew bridges and advised the natives to
evacuate the town.
b. See these pictures of the capture of Aba town.
Akinrinade was in charge of this operation and the
rest of the story is in my coming book.
1) The blown bridge by Biafran troops
2) The ghost town
3) The feeding of the returnees
4) The guarding of the textile mill
5) The guarding of the hotel.

ipodstinks:


Asaba Massacre.
This was on the night of 8th August, 1967 at about
10pm. I was the commander of the Federal troops
of 4th Area Command at Asaba. The Biafran troops
broke the barricade on Niger River bridge and
went straight to a place called “Ogbe Hausa” at the
cable point; where the Hausa community lived.
Biafran troops pounced on them and killed many of
them. The few that escaped were moved down at
Onitsha end, the people jubilated. Before my
troops could reach me to report the situation,
about 20 Biafran troops attacked me at the
catering Rest House where I was living at the time. I
fought my way through, and overpowered the 20
Biafran troops and reported the situation to my
boss Major Henry Igboba at Agbor. The story of
how I did that is contained in my book.
consequently, of Biafra....[/i]

russellino:


This is weapon grade bullshit and arrant nonsense. So at his age Alabi-Isama dey tell small pikin lie like this.

1.Which barricade is he talking about? Who set up the barricade on the Niger Bridge? After hearing for years that the midwest was supposedly "neutral" we are now hearing about barricade. So in that period of uncertainty and civil war we are supposed to believe a Hausa community was chilling across the river from onitsha. The silliest lie here is that after the imaginary Hausa community was attacked, the survivors ran across the bridge into Onitsha Lies lies lies

So the Victor Banjo led Biafran force left the federal soldiers they had to face in a life or death battle and went STRAIGHT to kill some members of the Hausa community. Smh

2. So the man claims he single handedly fought and destroyed 20 men no need to continue

russellino:


This is weapon grade bullshit and arrant nonsense. So at his age Alabi-Isama dey tell small pikin lie like this.

1.Which barricade is he talking about? Who set up the barricade on the Niger Bridge? After hearing for years that the midwest was supposedly "neutral" we are now hearing about barricade. So in that period of uncertainty and civil war we are supposed to believe a Hausa community was chilling across the river from onitsha. The silliest lie here is that after the imaginary Hausa community was attacked, the survivors ran across the bridge into Onitsha Lies lies lies

So the Victor Banjo led Biafran force left the federal soldiers they had to face in a life or death battle and went STRAIGHT to kill some members of the Hausa community. Smh

2. So the man claims he single handedly fought and destroyed 20 men no need to continue