A Handful Of French Mercenaries On The Battlefield 3

French mercenaries will deliver weapons to the Biafran military and introduce them to guerrilla tactics.

Initially, Nigeria vomited "human vermin" (in the words of Zambian President Kenneth Kaunda). But in the war with the Republic of Biafra from 1967 to 1970, Lagos will call on foreign mercenaries - like the other side. Diplomatic records show that "soldiers of fortune" played a limited but crucial role.

Biafra: 50 Years Later, Separatist Movements Emerge Again

Activists of the IPOB and the Biafran flag, May 28, 2017, in Aba. 

This Tuesday, May 30 marks the 50th anniversary of Biafra's unilateral declaration of independence. This region of southeastern Nigeria was the scene of a violent civil war from 1967 to 1970. Today, the climate remains tense and the secessionist discourses resurface.

When France Hoped To Weaken Nigeria By Arming The Free Biafra

The guns seized by the German army at the end of the Second World War were succeeded by guns and shells, then by helicopters and planes. When the Biafra proclaimed its independence, on 30th May 1967, General de Gaulle saw in it, The opportunity to arm the new state to weaken Nigeria, the "Anglophone giant" of West Africa. The French archives reveal the extent of armaments deliveries.

For The Independent Biafra, A War To Life, Death

50 years ago was proclaimed the independence of Biafra, an ephemeral African republic that was going to experience war and famine, sow division on the continent and show how far de Gaulle's France was ready to go to defend its interests. French archival documents recall the origins of a conflict that claimed the lives of hundreds of thousands of people.