The Untold Stories Of Onitsha Sector Of The Civil War

If the Biafran-Nigerian War can be summed into one geographical name, it would be Onitsha. Onitsha. Sigh. Onitsha sector of the war was hell.

The fact that we are going to tell the untold stories of the Onitsha Sector of the war as a blog post is a stretch of the bands of summary. No one can pull this off. You can write a 500-page book on the Onitsha sector of the Biafran War and not exhaust a quarter of the major talking points.

We would do all we can with the little space we have for as long as you are with us. Here is everything you need to know about the Onitsha Sector of the war.

In the beginning

When the Biafran War began, it was fought on the Northern border. The Mid-West which bordered Biafra to the West had no military presence. Colonel Victor Banjo, fighting for the Biafrans, took his army across the Niger.

He divided his troops into two and headed the group that went due west and within hours, he captured Benin-City the capital of Mid-West.

He didn’t stop there, he went on to capture the important gateway city of Ore. He was “threatening” the city of Ibadan which means even the Nigerian seat of government in Lagos was within reaching, if not hitting, distance.

A second unit of Banjo’s men captured Warri, Ughelli, and Sapele. The third group headed for Auchi.

There was an attempt to capture the governor of Mid-West region, Col. David Ejoor. Led by Lt. Col. Ochei and getting direct orders from General Ojukwu. The attempt was resisted by Ejoor’s guard. Colonel Ejoor managed to escape with his life, leaving his family behind.

There are stories as to why Banjo didn’t proceed to attack Ibadan. Some say because he was Yoruba and didn’t want to attack the capital of his region; others pointed out that he was more interested in becoming the governor of the Mid-West region which Ojukwu wasn’t comfortable with.

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With Biafrans “Liberation Army” totally controlling the whole of the Mid-West, General Gowon moved from “police action” to declaring “total war” on Biafra. He was able to assembly a division under Colonel Murtala Muhammed who capitalized on the delay Banjo’s men and hit them at Ore.

By the time Ojukwu settled for Albert Okonkwo as the administrator of Mid-West and an announcement was made on 19th September 1967, as the independent Republic of Benin, Murtala’s troops were in the outskirts of Benin City. By September 20th, Benin City was in Nigerian hands, making the Benin Republic the shortest in the history of republics on earth and Albert Okonkwo the shortest head of state on earth.

Every Biafran soldier and militiaman retreated to Onitsha, Murtala headed East, and the Onitsha sector of the war was activated.

The Defence of Onitsha

To defend Onitsha from the Nigerians, Biafra blew it up the Niger bridge. This was a problematic decision in two ways. One, there were still a lot of Igbos west of the Niger, in places such as Asaba, Agbor, etc. Even though Anioma was never part of Eastern Nigeria that became Biafra, Biafrans recognized them as brothers and saw them as part of them which was one of the most logical reasons for invading the Mid-West.

Again, a lot of Mid-Western Igbo soldiers were in Biafraland at this time including Kaduna Nzeogwu (see Nsukka Sector of the war) and they were loyal to Ojukwu so much that they nearly successfully kidnapped Mid-Western governor whom they swore to protect Ejoor. So blowing up the bridge looked like abandonment, a betrayal even.

Second, blowing up the bridge was a tactical admittance of the superiority of Nigeria and, perhaps, a psychological admittance of defeat.

Psychology aside, the Nigeran forces had air and land army superiority in equipment, funding, numbers, and allies, so blowing up the bridge may as well be an admittance of the strength of your enemy.

To defend Onitsha in various units were the following:

The 11th Battalion commanded by Major Joseph Achuzie,

The 12th Battalion commanded by Colonel Mike Inveso, and

The 18th Battalion commanded by Colonel Assam Nsudoh.

There were three ways the Nigerians could take Onitsha. One by crossing the Niger from Asaba or by crossing the River via Idah and Nsugbe.

On the Biafran side of the Niger, mines and machine guns supported the Biafran defence. But there was no single naval ship or boat to defend the waters. For many cities, this would have been where the story ends. But for Onitsha, this was just the beginning.

Murtala Muhammed was aware of this and seeing he has boats, artillery support, and ten thousand men, he couldn’t wait for clearance from Lagos nor consider the Idah-Nsugbe route. On 12th October 1967, he got on the boats and led 5000 of his men into Onitsha.

The first series of attacks of Onitsha

Colonel Nsudoh’s 18th Battalion confronted them and a bloody battle ensued. The 18th Battalion was outnumbered and outgunned and they fell back. Onitsha was captured. For many cities, this would have been where the story ends. But for Onitsha, this was just the beginning.

The Nigerian troops didn’t fully occupy the whole town nor did they completely chase the Biafrans out of the city. They went into the famous Onitsha Market and began to loot and burn it.

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Colonel Nsudoh reorganized his men. Major Achuzie ordered the 11th Battalion guarding the Idah-Nsugbe area to turn around and head to the city. With Achuzie’s men coming from New Market Road and Nsudoh from the Old Market Road, the men of the 2nd Division were encircled.

Overfed, or drunk, or both, the unprepared Nigerian troops had to fight off the Biafrans on more than two fronts. They were crushed. Their Commander Murtala and few men managed to escape but the rest were either killed or captured.

Back to Asaba, Murtala rallied 5000 more men and made for Onitsha. This time around, Achuzie and Nsudoh’s battalion fought as a unit and buoyed with seized ammunition from the Nigerians beat them back.

Murtala ordered his deputy, Lt. Col. Ipoola Akinrinade to make another assault. Achuzie and Nsudoh’s men inflicted a punishing defeat on them.

The Nigerians finally came to a conclusion – Onitsha cannot be captured from Asaba.

The hinterland attack of Onitsha

After giving up on ever taking Onitsha via Asaba, the Nigerians unleashed air terror on the people, people, using Soviet MiG-17 bombers manned by mercenaries from the USSR and the Arab League to bomb civilian positions.

This bombardment that began in November did not stop until the end of the first quarter of the new year.

Murtala’s troops teamed up with the Nigerian 6th Battalion commanded by Lt. Col. Shehu Musa Yar’adua who later became Obasanjo’s number two and whose brother Yar’adua succeeded Obasanjo in 2007. Together, they crossed the River.

They headed to Nsukka which had been captured since July then to Enugu which was taken in October (all of 1967).

Murtala and Yar’adua’s troops began the march to Onitsha, taking series of towns in the process including Udi and the important city of Awka. It was from Awka, just 30 kilometres away, that the final push for Onitsha was made.

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The S Division tasked with halting the advance of Murtala’s men from Enugu failed but they inflicted heavy casualties on Murtala’s men. He didn’t care, he was determined to take Onitsha whatever the cost. On January 20, 1968, Murtala launched an assault o Onitsha.

General Ojukwu gave Major Achuzie the task of defending Onitsha. He was outnumbered 6 to one, he had no air support and no artillery fire to fend off Murtala’s ravaging forces but he stood his ground. He refused to face the Nigerians in an open field and resulted in hit-and-run attacks from the sides.

Advancing was a problem for the Nigerian troops because Achuzie made moving into any position deadly. You hardly knew where to tread as “ogbunigwe” miles could blow you up and snap your spine into two. And your unit could be ambushed.

It was a stalemate and could have remained so if Achuzie had air support and reinforcement. He didn’t and on March 19th, two months after Awka was taken, Achuzie retreated to Nnewi and the Nigerians finally took Onitsha.

Abagana Ambush

When Onitsha was taken, the Nigerian forces decided to completely encircle Biafra by linking their soldiers in Onitsha to Enugu. This is the information we have but it doesn’t explain why the Nigerians decided to carry 6000 men and loads of ammunition, equipment, and supplies to the journey to Enugu. Murtala led the men and they had to pass through Abagana in the present-day Njikoka Local Government area.

The Biafrans already lost Onitsha were very much in the war and sought one last vengeance on the Nigerians. Major Achuzie decided to plan a surprise party for the Nigerians. There are accounts that put the name of Major Uchendu as the mastermind. Our educated conclusion is that Achuzie planned and Uchendu watered, a reenactment of the Biblical Paul planted and Apollos watered narrative.

So the Biafrans planted hundreds of “ogbunigwe” miles in the main Abagana Road. As the Nigerians moved on the road, the miles were detonated and the blast hit a fuel tanker which started a fire and caused several other blasts of the armoured tanks and bombs which unified into an earth-quaking roar so loud it was heard in the city of Nnewi 21 kilometres away.

In the panic that followed, Biafran forces attacked the fleeing soldiers and killed off nearly all the soldiers. Murtala escaped. Major Uchendu and a handful of men pursued him to Nawfia town, seven kilometres away. A helicopter dropped into the town and ferried him away, one minute before Uchendu’s men arrived.

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