Nigerian Biafran separatists mark 50th anniv

>> YOUR LINK HERE: ___ http://youtube.com/watch?v=85UQ3WeqNB4

(30 May 2017) Supporters of Nigeria's former breakaway state of Biafra are marking the 50th anniversary of the declaration of Biafra. • The self-proclaimed Republic of Biafra only existed for three years, from 30 May 1967 until January 1970. • Biafra was reintegrated into Nigeria after a two-and-a-half-year-long war that caused one million deaths, many due to starvation that resulted from a blockade of the region by the Nigerian government. • On Sunday in Umuahia, which was the capital of Biafra, members of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), a political organisation led by Nnamdi Kanu, gathered ahead of the celebrations to listen to their leader. • In an interview with the Associated Press Kanu said that Umuahia's indigenous Igbo people or Biafrans still do face a lot of injustice and depravation, the very causes of the civil war, but vowed to bring an end to it... once and for all . • Amongst those marking the anniversary in Umuahia on Sunday were war veterans who fought the country's civil war that lead to the creation of the secessionist state. • The civil war began in 1967 when the Igbo people of eastern Nigeria seceded from the rest of the country following years of ethnic tensions. • The self-proclaimed republic was soon under siege from the Nigerian Army until it surrendered in January 1970. • The Biafrans, with great ingenuity, built their own guns and armoured vehicles, however, with little foreign support and no real airforce, the odds were always stacked against them. • The weapons used in the war are now historical relics, as redundant as the men who fought it. • Some veterans in the region do still remain hopeful Biafra will be brought back to life again one day. • I need Biafra freedom. We Biafrans, we need Biafra freedom, said 75-year-old Uboha Damia. • • Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork • Twitter: / ap_archive • Facebook: / aparchives • Instagram: / apnews • • • You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/you...

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