Nigeria's civil war explained - BBC News

It's been 50 years since the start

of the Nigerian Civil War.

It's also known as the Biafra War.

It was one of the bloodiest and most

divisive conflicts

in post-independent Africa.

Yet so many years later,

some of the issues that set it off

continue to make the headlines.

In 1960, Britain, the colonial power,

granted independence to Nigeria, a diverse

country with hundreds of ethnic groups.

But at the time, Nigeria was dominated

by the house of people in the northern

region, the Yorubas in the western region,

and the Igbo in the Eastern region.

But it wasn't long before this new nation,

Nigeria, was plunged

into political and ethnic turmoil.

This involved two military takeovers in

1966,

and soon these tensions led

to the killings of thousands of minority

Igbos living in Northern Nigeria.

So, in the Southeast,

a military officer called Emeka Ojukwu

declared the independence of the Republic

of Biafra on behalf of the Igbo people.

But Nigeria would not accept this.

And on the sixth of July,

1967, civil war broke out, and it raged

on for the next two and a half years.

It's estimated that more than a million

people died, most of them from hunger.

In 1968, images of the famine

were streamed worldwide.

Biafran leaders used these pictures

to gain sympathy for their cause.

Around the world,

protesters and celebrities

campaigned for an end to the conflict.

Back on the battlefield, the Nigerians

were stronger and better equipped.

And in January 1970,

the Biafran secessionists surrendered.

The war might have ended,

but the idea of Biafra didn't.

In Nigeria, some believe the underlying

ethnic grievances have not been

fully confronted or resolved.

A new generation of pro-Biafra separatists

has reignited the cause,

and they hold marches and protests

regularly in Nigeria and abroad.

Arguably, the most prominent group is

the Indigenous People of Biafra, or IPOB.

Its founder,

the British-Nigerian activist,

Nnamdi Kanu, was arrested for his rhetoric

in 2015, but his detention has

only boosted his popularity.

I've said before, now allow

me to repeat, Biafra or death.

One of the two must happen.

The establishment is still

opposed to the idea of Biafra.

The human rights group

Amnesty International claims that in May

last year, the Nigerian army killed

150 unarmed people during IPOB rallies.

The army and police strongly denied this.

So, is a Biafra break away

likely or even plausible?

Will there be renewed tension

or perhaps a referendum?

It's a sensitive topic.

But as Nigerians look back,

they'll be keen to avoid a repeat

of the dark history their people suffered.