Blockade of Biafra

in June 1967, when it declared its independence from the rest of Nigeria In the aftermath of the 1966 Nigerian counter-coup, anti-Igbo pogroms erupted across northern Nigeria, killing thousands of Igbos. Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu declared the independence of Biafra in the Igbo-populated areas of Nigeria in 1967, and the federal government led by Yakubu Gowon launched a civil war against the secessionist entity. ==The blockade==

During the first weeks of the war, the Nigerian government decided to impose a blockade of Biafra. Access to the secessionist republic through foreign currency transactions, mail and telecommunications, and all seaports and airfields was to be cut off. Initially it was unclear whether the blockade of the coast would be effective with the ships available to the Nigerian Navy, and whether the Nigerian Air Force would be able to interdict the air routes. Nevertheless, the blockade was effective and maintained for the next two and a half years. The Nigerian government relied on international law to enforce the blockade, since at the time starvation as a weapon of war was not prohibited and all neutral countries were obliged to abide by an announced blockade. The Nigerian government threatened reactions against countries that disregarded the blockade and made an agreement with Cameroon to obstruct Biafra's land border. Some smugglers attempted blockade running but two ships were destroyed by the Nigerian navy. The blockade interdicted food, medicine, and other supplies needed by civilians. Nigerian federal leaders obstructed the passage of relief supplies and stated that starvation was a deliberate tactic of war, although also dismissing reports of famine as Biafran propaganda. or more people died as a result of the blockade. Most of the war casualties were civilians particularly children, who were especially vulnerable to malnutrition. Another consequence of the blockade was a rise in violent crime in Biafra. ==International reactions==

Biafra attracted a large amount of international attention from mid-1968, when images of starving Biafran children began to appear in the international press. Some historians argue that the lack of accountability for the blockade and targeting of humanitarian workers enabled future weaponized famines, including the blockade of Gaza. The U.N. Convention specifies that Genocide can be “in part or in whole”. Some scholars, such as Robert Melson, argue that there should be a distinction between partial genocide and total genocide. As a result, Melson chose to characterize Biafra as a “partial genocide” or a “genocidal massacre” rather than a whole genocide. The largest organization in the United States that formed in reaction to the Biafra war was the American Committee to Keep Biafra Alive. In West Germany the war resulted in an unprecedented mobilization and the amount of money raised, 70 million marks, exceeded that previously raised for any humanitarian cause. Some relief organizations, including the ICRC, only operated with the permission of both belligerents, limiting relief efforts. Relief efforts were cut off in June 1969 when a Swedish Red Cross plane was shot down by Nigerian government forces. ==Legacy==

Soon after the civil war ended in 1970, it was largely forgotten outside Nigeria and not much about it was mentioned in the field of genocide studies. The ICRC recognized that the failure of its relief effort was due in part to the blockade law endorsed by the Western powers, and increased its efforts to secure stronger legal protections for civilians. According to the 1977 Protocol II, "objects indispensable to the survival of the civilian population" are protected and attacks against them are prohibited. In Nigeria, the blockade and its casualties were ignored in official commemorations and school curricula. ==References==