Blockade of Biafra

Ultimately, it contributed to reform in the law of blockade to protect civilians and the prohibition of starvation as a method of warfare in the 1977 amendments to the Geneva Conventions.

Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu declared the independence of Biafra in the Igbo-populated areas of Nigeria in 1967, and the federal government led by Yakubu Gowon launched a civil war against the secessionist entity.

The Nigerian government threatened reactions against countries that disregarded the blockade and made an agreement with Cameroon to obstruct Biafra's land border.

Nigerian federal leaders obstructed the passage of relief supplies and stated that starvation was a deliberate tactic of war, although also dismissing reports of famine as Biafran propaganda.

I don’t see why we should feed our enemies fat, only to fight us harder.I want to see no Red Cross, no Caritas, no World Council of Churches, no Pope, no missionary and no UN delegation.

Initially, international public opinion was sympathetic to Biafran claims, but shifted after the United Kingdom sent a fact finding mission to Nigeria that reported that genocide was not occurring.

[15] Some scholars who had initially believed that there was a genocide in Biafra, such as Robert Melson, changed their opinion after realizing that the Nigerian government did not plan to kill all Igbos, and because the reasons for their death were political rather than racial.