Biafra Genocide
Nigeria in 1965 was made up of 250 ethnic groups, with the north primarily inhabited by the Hausa tribe which was Muslim, the south-west by the Yoruba tribe that was half-Muslim and half-Christian, and the south-east by the Igbo tribe that was Christian. Until 1965 the tribes were relatively peaceful, but that year oil was discovered in the region inhabited by the Igbo. Following political upheaval and violence in Nigeria, an Igbo colonel declared the region inhabited by the Igbo to be the independent state of Biafra in May 1967.
The Nigerian army was sent in to suppress the independence movement in Biafra, but the first three attacks on the region failed. Unable to suppress the rebellion militarily, the Nigerian government went with another tactic. On May 9, 1968, the Nigerian army took control of Port Harcourt. This was the most important port in Biafra and it allowed the Nigerian government to implement a land and sea blockade of the region.
The goal of the blockade was to completely starve the residents of the region. The army bombed farms and destroyed any method of generating food. Famine set in and the military forces in Biafra suffered. With the military of Biafra deteriorating, the Nigerian Federal Military Government just waited until the right moment to strike. On December 23, 1969, the military moved in and divided the region in two. One by one, cities fell to the Nigerian forces.
The final city fell on January 13, 1970, the leader of Biafra fled, and his deputy signed the surrender. Estimates put the death toll from disease and starvation at 2 million, with most of the dead being women, children, and the elderly, those who had nothing to do with the fighting. The surviving Igbo had all their money in Nigerian banks taken and were given only 20 pounds in return. Their cities were taken and given to other tribes. Even today, the Igbo face discrimination and violence.