10. End of the Civil War
The Nigerian civil war is commonly referred to as the Biafran War. It was fought between 6 th of July, 1967 to 15 th of January, 1970.Purpose of the war was to quell the secession of Biafra from the original Nigeria.
Biafra is a part of Nigeria covering the old eastern region of the country. This part has now been divided into the South South and South East regions.
The leadership of the old eastern region came to the conclusion that they just could not continue to coexist with the rest of Nigeria, especially because of the ill treatment meted out to people of the old eastern region in the Northern part of Nigeria by northern military men, especially during the counter coup of June 1967, in which many eastern military officers were murdered.
The whole processes started with a military coup headed by Aguiyi Ironsi, a counter-coup headed by Murtala Muhammed and finally the persecution of people of Igbo extraction, especially in the northern part of Nigeria. The war was actually as a result of religious, cultural, ethnic, economical and political tension that prevailed during this period. The end of the war made both parties happy.
