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Article: 2 Decades Later, Biafra Remains Lonely Precedent
- Article from:
- The Washington Post
- Article date:
- June 27, 1988
- Author:
CopyrightThis material is published under license from the Washington Post. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Washington Post. (Hide copyright information)
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Victor Nwan- kwo hid in a cave when the war ended, waiting for
the slaughter to begin. As an officer in the short-lived West
African nation called Biafra, he had every reason to expect death.
Nwankwo had heard rumors that the victorious Nigerian federal
forces, having fought for three years to win back the southeastern
corner of their country, had a secret plan to kill every male of the
secessionist Ibo tribe. After a tribal war, tradition was on the
side of vengeance.
Yet, after four days in his cave, it dawned on Nwankwo that
something else was going on. "We sent out a scout to see if the
Nigerians were killing people," Nwankwo recalled. "They were not."
Like tens of thousands of Ibos, ...