September 4th, 1968 - The Battle of Aba

Conflict: Nigerian Civil War

Combatants: Biafrans vs. Nigerians

Location: Nigeria

Outcome: Nigerian victory

Following the secession of Biafra, Nigeria invaded the nascent separatist country. After being halted outside the Biafran capital, the federal Nigeria troops advanced and captured the city of Aba on this day in 1968.

Soldiers in the Nigerian Civil War by Peter Williams

Points of Interest:

• Biafra surrendered in January of 1970 after suffering nearly 2 million military and civilian casualties.

• Colonel Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu, the leader of the Biafran Secession, fled to exile in the Ivory Coast at the end of the war.

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Sources:

Dupuy, Trevor N., Johnson, Curt, & Bongard, David L. (1992). The Harper's Encyclopedia of Military Biography. New York: Castle Books (HarperCollins).

Dupuy, R. Ernest & Dupuy, Trevor N. (1993). The Harper's Encyclopedia of Military History. New York: HarperCollins.

Eggenberger, David (1985). An Encyclopedia of Battles: Accounts of Over 1,560 Battles from 1479 B.C. to the Present. New York: Dover Publications, Inc.