Invasion of Port Harcourt

Invasion of Port Harcourt
Part of Nigerian Civil War
Date April 14-May 19, 1968 Location southern Biafra Result Nigerian victory
Belligerents
Nigeria	Biafra
Commanders and leaders
Benjamin Adekunle	Maj. Dokubo† Ubong Archibong†
Strength
40,000	unknown
Casualties and losses
5,000	unknown

The Invasion of Port Harcourt (April 14-May 19, 1968) was a military conflict between Nigerian and Biafran military forces.

Background

In the mid 1960s people from the Hausa and Fulani groups in Nigeria decided to start the Anti-Igbo sentiment against the Igbo people of southern Nigeria. This resulted in the killings of thousands of Igbo's and the evacuation of hundreds of thousands more Igbo's from northern Nigeria. In 1967 Col.Odumegwu Ojukwu dclared that the Igbo people seceded from northern Nigeria to form the Republic of Biafra. Soon after the announcing of their secession the Nigerian's took control of many large cities in Biafra even their capital Enugu. In May 1969 Gen.Benjamin Adekunle surrounded the major city of Port Harcourt. On May 19, 1968 Adekunle and force of men invaded the city.

Battle

On May 19, 1968 Adekunle invaded the city of Port Harcourt and had other men shell the city from surrounding areas. Adekunle was angred at the fact that he was given a smaller less organized division while a more experienced division was assigned to Gen.Murtala Mohammed. Biafran forces arrived midday led by Philip Effiong but it was to late for the Biafrans. That day the Biafrans surrendered the city to the Nigerians.

Aftermath

The next day Gen. Adekunle said his famous announcement "I will be able to capture Owerri, Aba, and Umuahia in 2 weeks. That quote then led up to Operation OAU. Nigerian forces weren't able to captures the cities of Owerri and Aba until October 1, 1968 and were unable to capture Umuahia for another year. On January 15, 1970 Biafra surrendered to Nigeria and ended the war.