former Republic of Biafra has a history of turmoil and civil unrest. It existed as an independent republic for just two and a half years in the late 1960s, after millions of people—mainly from the southern Igbo ethnic group—led a movement to secede from the newly independent Nigeria, sparking the civil war of 1967 to 1970, which claimed more than 1 million lives.
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Forty-six years after that war ended, Nigeria is again facing a potential uprising in the southeast.
Since Kanu’s arrest in October, a protest movement has sprung up in Nigeria, with thousands of people identifying as Biafrans demonstrating in the streets across the southeast and as far north as Abuja to demand the release of their leader. The demonstrations began peacefully but turned bloody in December: According to Associated Press reports, at least 22 protesters and two police officers have been killed in clashes at pro-Biafra rallies.
The Nigerian government has not provided an official death toll, but Uchenna Asiegbu, a senior IPOB official, tells Newsweek that more than 100 civilians have died. The rise in tensions between pro-Biafra activists and the Nigerian government comes at a time when Nigeria—Africa’s biggest economy and most populous nation—is grappling with serious challenges.
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In recent years, the country has struggled to quell an insurgency mounted by Boko Haram, a militant group that has killed an estimated 20,000 people since 2009 as it attempts to establish an Islamic state in northeast Nigeria.
Although President Muhammadu Buhari said in December that Boko Haram had been “technically” defeated, the
