1967 – 1970
The Nigerian Civil War (1967–1970) began when the Igbo-majority Eastern Region, traumatized by the massacre of 30,000 Igbos in Northern Nigeria in 1966, declared the independent Republic of Biafra under Odumegwu Ojukwu. Nigeria's Federal Military Government, led by Yakubu Gowon, moved to crush the secession — and then turned hunger itself into a weapon, blockading Biafra and preventing food from reaching its civilian population. The resulting famine, broadcast by journalists into living rooms around the world, killed between one and two million Biafrans — most of them children — in what became the first modern televised humanitarian catastrophe. Biafra surrendered on January 15, 1970, its population starved into submission, and from its ashes came Médecins Sans Frontières and the modern humanitarian aid movement.
Chapter-by-chapter narrative with maps, primary sources, and key events.
Explore battles on a live map with a timeline slider and territory overlays.
Deep-dive into every major engagement — commanders, casualties, significance.
Biographical flip cards with real portraits, facts, and full biography pages.
Trace each figure's full life journey — birth, education, battles, and death — on a live map.
Scroll-driven visualization of casualties — each dot a thousand lives.
Weapons, war machines, and the military innovations that defined how this conflict was fought.
Cause-and-effect chains tracing the war's long shadow on history.
War crimes, massacres, and the darkest chapters of this conflict — documented for history.
The Nigerian Civil War (1967–1970) began when the Igbo-majority Eastern Region, traumatized by the massacre of 30,000 Igbos in Northern Nigeria in 1966, declared the independent Republic of Biafra under Odumegwu Ojukwu. Nigeria's Federal Military Government, led by Yakubu Gowon, moved to crush the secession — and then turned hunger itself into a weapon, blockading Biafra and preventing food from reaching its civilian population. The resulting famine, broadcast by journalists into living rooms around the world, killed between one and two million Biafrans — most of them children — in what became the first modern televised humanitarian catastrophe. Biafra surrendered on January 15, 1970, its population starved into submission, and from its ashes came Médecins Sans Frontières and the modern humanitarian aid movement.
Nigerian Civil War was fought from 1967 to 1970.
Nigerian Civil War was fought between Nigerian Federal Government and Republic of Biafra.
An estimated 2,000,000 people died in Nigerian Civil War, including roughly 100,000 military and 1,900,000 civilian deaths. Figures are scholarly estimates and vary by source.
Major engagements included Northern Pogroms Against Igbos, Battle of Onitsha, Owerri Offensive and Recapture, and Fall of Enugu.