Biafran War Memories

Biafran War Memories is a digital archive of personal stories and first hand accounts of the 1967-1970 Nigerian Civil War, also known as the Nigerian-Biafran War or the Biafran War. It was launched in 2017. Biafran War Memories is not aligned or associated with any political or religious body, nor any ideology. It has no political agenda. It is a nongovernmental, nonprofit initiative created for the purposes of research and documentation. Biafran War Memories is a program of ZIKORA Media & Arts African Cultural Heritage Organization.

EDITOR’S PICKS

They planned to destroy us

My name is Hajiya Hauwa Muhammad. I should be almost 50, 60 [years old]. [I don’t know the year I was born]. You know this age thing and how complex it is. My husband was a retired colonel who served in the Nigerian Army. I was born in Bida [a locality in Niger State in… Read more

MOST VIEWED

The Igbos were molesting usJune 7, 2017biafranwarmemories

The ordinary man in the east saw hellJuly 17, 2019biafranwarmemories

I was very proud to be a BiafranJune 11, 2019biafranwarmemories

Uli airport was what made us surviveAugust 8, 2019biafranwarmemories

"We heard the sound of death"August 6, 2017biafranwarmemories

I was a student-turned-soldier overnightMay 28, 2019biafranwarmemories

I was married to a BiafranAugust 13, 2019biafranwarmemories

Coming back with parts of their bodyNovember 30, 2025biafranwarmemories

I don’t like remembering all thisDecember 31, 2025biafranwarmemories

The posts on this website are original interviews of people from around the world who have memories of the Nigerian-Biafran War. The interviews were conducted by the Biafran War Memories team. The interviews, all of which were conducted in the home or workplace of each speaker, are presented as transcripts with photos, video and/or audio excerpts from the recordings captured during the interview with each speaker. Biafran War Memories is an ongoing project, a living archive of oral history. For the purposes of documentation and distribution of useful information of an important moment in history, the Biafran War Memories team will continue to update this archive with more original interviews. Biafran War Memories is the only documentation project of its kind concerning the Nigerian-Biafran War. It has been recognized by UNESCO through the International Centre for the Promotion of Human Rights. Click here for more.

“We suffered. People were dying, including those that were killed by kwashiorkor. People were just dying. Some people left their children and ran away so they don’t get killed. We really suffered.” Cecelia Anizoba remembers the Nigerian-Biafran War. Photo by Chika Oduah for Biafran War Memories

“My junior brother [died] This question is very tough for me to answer. His name was Nohum Ayuba. We are in the same battalion. He is at A company while I am in headquarters because we that we are using heavy weapons we are in the headquarters. We are Battalion Commander Personal Artillery according to the introduction. General Babangida, former military president, was my commander during the civil war, yes.” Timothy Ayuba remembers the Nigerian-Biafran War. Filmed by Chika Oduah for Biafran War Memories.