{"id":5688,"date":"2026-08-07T17:04:46","date_gmt":"2026-08-07T17:04:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.godj.com\/reel\/surviving-biafra-voices-from-the-nigerian-civil-war-bbc-africa-eye-documentary\/"},"modified":"2026-08-07T17:04:46","modified_gmt":"2026-08-07T17:04:46","slug":"surviving-biafra-voices-from-the-nigerian-civil-war-bbc-africa-eye-documentary","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.godj.com\/reel\/surviving-biafra-voices-from-the-nigerian-civil-war-bbc-africa-eye-documentary\/","title":{"rendered":"Surviving Biafra: Voices from the Nigerian Civil War &#8211; BBC Africa Eye Documentary"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><iframe  width=\"580\" height=\"385\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/xETIY9A4Vb4?autoplay=1\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><br \/>\n<br \/>Some of the last survivors from Nigeria\u2019s Civil War, also known as the Biafran War, share their memories from the frontline. <\/p>\n<p>Click here to subscribe to our channel \ud83d\udc49\ud83c\udffd http:\/\/bit.ly\/subscribetoafrica<\/p>\n<p>Most survivors of the Biafran War are now in their 70s and 80s.<\/p>\n<p>The trauma of the war has prevented many of them from sharing their stories. Time is running out to record their memories. <\/p>\n<p>This documentary is directed by award-winning Nigerian filmmakers Meji and Leke Alabi, whose grandfather, a senior Federal Army Commando, took part in the war. Between 600,000 and 3 million people died in Biafra amidst allegations of war crimes.<\/p>\n<p>Through deeply emotional testimonies from frontline eyewitnesses, intercut with the BBC\u2019s vast and largely unseen video archives, this programme sheds light on a civil war which impacted the lives of millions and still shapes conversations in Nigeria today. This documentary was produced by BBC Africa Eye with expert support from the BBC Igbo Service. Eyewitness accounts from both sides of the conflict are reflected in the programme. <\/p>\n<p>00:00 Eyewitnesses to the Biafran War<br \/>\n02:22 A family\u2019s story \u2013 the directors and their grandfather<br \/>\n07:00 Nigeria gains independence<br \/>\n09:55 1966: the coups<br \/>\n15:36 The birth of Biafra<br \/>\n17:00 Two leaders<br \/>\n18:00 Britain backs the Government<br \/>\n19:31 Biafran rebels prepare for war<br \/>\n22:59 A surprise Biafran attack<br \/>\n25:14 The Government fightback<br \/>\n28:09 Minority groups targeted<br \/>\n29:58 Biafran recruits foreign mercenaries<br \/>\n34:24 Jungle warfare<br \/>\n39:43 The fall of Port Harcourt<br \/>\n41:41 Britain\u2019s source of income<br \/>\n44:35 Air raids on Biafra<br \/>\n50:59 Federal army \u201cwar crimes\u201d<br \/>\n53:17 International aid arrives<br \/>\n57:13 Corruption delays the food<br \/>\n58:34 \u201cThousands are going to starve.\u201d<br \/>\n01:00:00 Protests in Britain<br \/>\n01:01:06 The famine begins<br \/>\n01:07:24 This Civil War \u201cis a disaster.\u201d<br \/>\n01:09:01 Biafra surrenders<br \/>\n01:10:28 Britain \u201cmakes a profit\u201d<br \/>\n01:12:16 A generation lost<\/p>\n<p>\ud83d\udcfd\ufe0f Watch this film in HAUSA here: https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=uZHQ13rvysU, in SWAHILI here: https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=PtBiT8WqEJY, and in FRENCH here: https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=kwfVtvugQQ8<\/p>\n<p>\ud83c\udf9e\ufe0f Check out all #BBCAfricaEye investigations here: https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/playlist?list=PLajyiGz4JeyO2qgCvioQO-BzP1XCajJqt<\/p>\n<p>\ud83c\udf9e\ufe0f Watch more investigative journalism from our award-winning BBC Eye team in this playlist: https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/playlist?list=PLz_B0PFGIn4fa8LK1lptsvoA_spfJhzda<\/p>\n<p>You may also be interested in watching these #BBCEye documentaries:<\/p>\n<div class=\"epyt-video-wrapper\"><iframe  id=\"_ytid_34663\"  width=\"480\" height=\"270\"  data-origwidth=\"480\" data-origheight=\"270\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/UZZVQxjXWCg?enablejsapi=1&#038;autoplay=1&#038;cc_load_policy=0&#038;cc_lang_pref=&#038;iv_load_policy=1&#038;loop=0&#038;rel=1&#038;fs=1&#038;playsinline=0&#038;autohide=2&#038;theme=dark&#038;color=red&#038;controls=1&#038;disablekb=0&#038;\" class=\"__youtube_prefs__  epyt-is-override  no-lazyload\" title=\"YouTube player\"  allow=\"fullscreen; accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen data-no-lazy=\"1\" data-skipgform_ajax_framebjll=\"\"><\/iframe><\/div>\n<div class=\"epyt-video-wrapper\"><iframe  id=\"_ytid_92389\"  width=\"480\" height=\"270\"  data-origwidth=\"480\" data-origheight=\"270\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/xVrUb7xwRcA?enablejsapi=1&#038;autoplay=1&#038;cc_load_policy=0&#038;cc_lang_pref=&#038;iv_load_policy=1&#038;loop=0&#038;rel=1&#038;fs=1&#038;playsinline=0&#038;autohide=2&#038;theme=dark&#038;color=red&#038;controls=1&#038;disablekb=0&#038;\" class=\"__youtube_prefs__  epyt-is-override  no-lazyload\" title=\"YouTube player\"  allow=\"fullscreen; accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen data-no-lazy=\"1\" data-skipgform_ajax_framebjll=\"\"><\/iframe><\/div>\n<div class=\"epyt-video-wrapper\"><iframe  id=\"_ytid_70194\"  width=\"480\" height=\"270\"  data-origwidth=\"480\" data-origheight=\"270\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/9WkYK-SjJtE?enablejsapi=1&#038;autoplay=1&#038;cc_load_policy=0&#038;cc_lang_pref=&#038;iv_load_policy=1&#038;loop=0&#038;rel=1&#038;fs=1&#038;playsinline=0&#038;autohide=2&#038;theme=dark&#038;color=red&#038;controls=1&#038;disablekb=0&#038;\" class=\"__youtube_prefs__  epyt-is-override  no-lazyload\" title=\"YouTube player\"  allow=\"fullscreen; accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen data-no-lazy=\"1\" data-skipgform_ajax_framebjll=\"\"><\/iframe><\/div>\n<p>Subscribe: http:\/\/bit.ly\/subscribetoafrica<br \/>\nWebsite: https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/africa<br \/>\nFacebook: https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/bbcnewsafrica\/<br \/>\nTwitter: https:\/\/www.twitter.com\/bbcafrica\/<br \/>\nInstagram: https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/bbcafrica\/<\/p>\n<p>#Biafra #Nigeria #Documentary #History #InvestigativeJournalism #HistoricalDocumentary #BBCAfrica<br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=xETIY9A4Vb4\">source<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Some of the last survivors from Nigeria\u2019s Civil War, also known as the Biafran War, share their memories from the frontline. Click here to subscribe to our channel \ud83d\udc49\ud83c\udffd http:\/\/bit.ly\/subscribetoafrica Most survivors of the Biafran War are now in their 70s and 80s. The trauma of the war has prevented many of them from sharing [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3934168192,"featured_media":5689,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"video","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[11226,434,1318,1214,11207,15,1317,1320,1319,11210,11224,11225,169,11212,11205,11209,1884,11215,11211,11218,11222,11216,11223,1565,11214,11213,11206,11208,11217,11220,11221,11219],"class_list":["post-5688","post","type-post","status-publish","format-video","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-history","tag-aburi-accord","tag-africa","tag-africa-news","tag-african-history","tag-african-history-documentary","tag-bbc","tag-bbc-africa","tag-bbc-africa-eye","tag-bbc-africa-news","tag-bbc-biafra","tag-bbc-biafra-news","tag-bbc-igbo","tag-bbc-news","tag-biafra-archive","tag-biafra-war","tag-biafran-war","tag-british-empire","tag-british-nigeria","tag-documentary-2026","tag-igbo","tag-igbo-history","tag-jews-of-africa","tag-meji-alabi","tag-nigeria-documentary","tag-nigeria-oil","tag-nigeria-oil-documentary","tag-nigerian-civil-war","tag-nigerian-history","tag-nigerian-independence","tag-port-harcourt","tag-red-cross","tag-yoruba","post_format-post-format-video"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.godj.com\/reel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5688","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.godj.com\/reel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.godj.com\/reel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.godj.com\/reel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3934168192"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.godj.com\/reel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5688"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/news.godj.com\/reel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5688\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.godj.com\/reel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5689"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.godj.com\/reel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5688"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.godj.com\/reel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5688"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.godj.com\/reel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5688"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}