Ex-Biafra leader Ojukwu buried in Nigeria
Nnewi, 04 Mar – (ANA) - Thousands of people in south-eastern Nigeria have attended the funeral of former Biafran secessionist leader Chukwuemeka Odumegwu-Ojukwu. Reports say in Col Ojukwu's home town of Nnewi, well-wishers lined the streets and climbed tall buildings to get the best view. Col Ojukwu died in the UK last year after a long illness, aged 78. His 1967 declaration of independence for Biafra sparked a civil war, in which more than a million people died. He remained a prominent figure in Nigerian politics, running twice as a presidential candidate in the 2000s. Col Ojukwu went into exile after the Biafrans surrendered in 1970, returning more than a decade later, after he was officially pardoned. Following his amnesty, he is being granted full military honours at the funeral, with a military band playing at his family home in Nnewi, Anambra state. The military was in charge of proceedings during the burial programme, with a parade and military songs performed in the late colonel's honour. He was in the military before declaring independence for south-eastern Nigeria, where Igbo is the most widely spoken language, following the slaughter of thousands of ethnic Igbos in northern Nigeria. This followed a 1966 coup carried out by Igbo officers, in which Prime Minister Abubakar Tafawa Balewa, a northerner, was shot dead. Most of the civilians who died during the Biafran war died from hunger. Former Biafran fighters at the funeral seemed happy with the active role played by the army and the federal government during the burial.(ANA)
FA/ANA/04 March 2012--------