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Writer's pictureGeorge Castrioti

August 9th, 1967 - The Battle of Benia

Conflict: Nigerian Civil War

Combatants: Biafrans vs. Nigerians

Location: Nigeria

Outcome: Biafran victory


In May of 1967, the southeastern region of Nigeria declared independence as the Republic of Biafra. Nigerian forces were ordered into the region to end the rebellion, but the Biafran forces threw them back and, on August 8th, captured the capitol of Benia.


Soldiers in the Nigerian Civil War by Peter Williams

Points of Interest:

  • Biafra surrendered in January of 1970 after suffering nearly 2 million military and civilian casualties.

  • Colonel Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu, the leader of the Biafran Secession, fled to exile in the Ivory Coast at the end of the war.


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Sources:


Dupuy, Trevor N., Johnson, Curt, & Bongard, David L. (1992). The Harper's Encyclopedia of Military Biography. New York: Castle Books (HarperCollins).


Dupuy, R. Ernest & Dupuy, Trevor N. (1993). The Harper's Encyclopedia of Military History. New York: HarperCollins.


Eggenberger, David (1985). An Encyclopedia of Battles: Accounts of Over 1,560 Battles from 1479 B.C. to the Present. New York: Dover Publications, Inc.


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