Gowon instructed we be soft on Biafrans during the civil war, says Buhari

Nigerian Civil War leaders, Ojuwku and Gowon

Gowon instructed we be soft on Biafrans during the civil war, says Buhari

If not that former military leader, Yakubu Gowon instructed that Nigerian military be soft on Biafrans, Nigerian army would have wreck more havoc on Biafrans during the 30-month Nigerian civil war 1967 to 1970, President Muhammadu Buhari said on Monday.

During the two and half years of the war, there were about 100,000 overall military casualties, while between 500,000 and 2 million Biafran civilians died of starvation.

Nigerian civil war commonly called Biafran war is adjudged one of the worst civil wars in the world history.

But Buhari said the army was soft on Biafrans during the civil war because of the instructions by the then head of state, General Gowon.

Daily Trust newspaper reported that Buhari said this inside the Council Chambers of the Aso Rock Presidential Villa in Abuja after his investiture as Grand Patron of the Nigerian Red Cross Society.

“The president recalled that Gowon instructed all commanders to exercise restraint and remember that they were not fighting enemies, but brothers.

Buhari said he knew how much sacrifice members of the Nigerian Red And their international counterparts made during the civil war “both in the real front of operations and at the rear on both sides. I think it is a lot of sacrifices because anything can happen to you in the operational areas. 

“The risks they faced were real and I admire their courage and commitment to helping people who were in distress and were virtually in millions. Those photographs of people from the Biafra enclave spoke a lot.

“I remember with nostalgia the performance of the Commander-in-Chief, General Gowon. Every commander was given a copy of the Commander-in-Chief’s instructions that we were not fighting enemies but that we were fighting our brothers. And thus, people were constrained to show a lot of restraint. 

“The international observer teams were allowed to go as far as possible within and outside the front and I think this was generous and very considerate of General Gowon. He is a highly committed Nigerian.”