Thread by @ronaldnzimora

This is a thread of some of the notable people who fought (and died) on the side of Biafra.

Some of them weren't EVEN Igbo.

But they believed in the cause and gave everything to it.

Will start with: General Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu.

President and Leader of Biafra.

https://twitter.com/ronaldnzimora/status/1134006580695982080

General Ojukwu before he died always said there was no need for a 2nd war over the agitation of Biafra. I agree with him.

This is why I have a problem with the way IPOB speaks about Biafra. This does not warrant the treatment they have gotten especially as they've been peaceful.

Bruce Mayrock.

Born May 6, 1949, and a 20 year old student of Columbia University, he took his own life for people whom he never met before on May 30, 1969.

He died after setting himself on fire in front of the United Nations Building to protest the atrocities that were being

unleashed on the people of Biafra at the height of the civil war. He was carrying a cardboard sign on which he wrote "You must stop the genocide. Please save 9 Million Biafrans".

At the bottom of the sign a quotation read,"Peace is where there is an absence of fear of any kind"

Bruce Mayrock came from a very wealthy family, having descended from the Fortunoffs. His family stated that he had worked actively to protest the war in Biafra, writing letters about the war to the US president and other leading government figures.

In utter frustration and...

...desolation that no one appeared to be listening, he decided to draw the attention of the world to the Biafran plight the only way he felt he could... by sacrificing his own life.

Someone once said that some prices are so high that they can only be paid in blood.

RIP Bruce.

Please share, light a candle or whisper a prayer for this brother who paid the ultimate price for us all on our Memorial Day.

Rest in Peace, Bruce Mayrock.

Nwanne mmadu.

#BiafraHeroesDay2019
#BiafraRemembranceDay
#Ozoemena

Count Carl Gustaf Ericsson von Rosen (August 19, 1909 – July 13, 1977) was a Swedish pioneer aviator, humanitarian and mercenary pilot.

In May 1969, Carl Gustaf von Rosen formed a squadron of five Malmö MFI-9 MiniCOIN small piston-engined aircraft (armed with rocket pods and...

machine guns) known as the Babies of Biafra, which destroyed Nigerian jet aircraft on the ground and delivered food aid.

But his most notable exploits was flying in food and relief materials in the dead of the night under the most perilous conditions.

#BiafraHeroesDay2019

Lynn Garrison:

He was a Biafran War Heroic Pilot who flew most of the toughest missions to neutralize the Nigerian Navy.

With regard to flying, Garrison is known for his often repeated comment, "If it has fuel and noise, I can fly it."

#BiafraHeroesDay2019
#Ozoemena

Sorry, I mixed up the photos of Carl Gustaf Von Rosen and that of Lynn Garrisson

Victor Banjo (April 1, 1930 – September 22, 1967) was a Colonel in the Nigerian Army of Yoruba extraction. He ended up in the Biafran Army during the Nigerian Civil War.

Victor Banjo was mistaken for a coup plotter against the Nigerian Prime Minister Tafawa Balewa, by the...

Government of Aguiyi Ironsi.

Victor Banjo was alleged to have staged a coup plot against Biafran President Odumegwu Ojukwu and was executed as a result.

Rest in Peace

#BiafraHeroesDay2019
#BiafraRemembranceDay
#Ozoemena

Jan Zumbach

Born of wealthy Swiss-Polish heritage, not far from Warsaw in 1915, Zumbach going by the name “John Brown”, he flew bombing missions for the new Biafran airforce (basically Zumbach and some trainees), destroying several aircraft and a helicopter on the ground.

as well as killing a senior Nigerian army commander. This even though most of the “bombs” he used were improvised exploding cooking pots.

#BiafraHeroesDay2019
#BiafraRemembranceDay
#Ozoemena

Joe Achuzie, born Asaba, 1929, was Biafra's most successful commander during the war.

He defeated Murtala Mohammed twice, during the attempted Onicha crossing, and then at Abagana.

After the second defeat, Murtala Mohammed, an undisciplined soldier, abandoned his troops and...

Philip Efiong

Born in Ákwá-Ibom State, he was the 1st Vice President and the 2nd President of then Republic of Biafra during the Nigerian Civil War of 1967 to 1970.

He took command and brokered the truce which reunited Biafra with Nigeria in 1970

#BiafraHeroesDay2019
#Ozoemena