In April 1968, the Commander of the 3 MCDO General Benjamin Adekunle began drawing up plans to invade the Biafran heartland and capture all remaining major cities.

On 14 April the Nigerian 3rd Marine Division under Gen. Adekunle made their way north from their position in Calabar to Ikot Ekpene where they managed to capture the city after a stubborn Biafran defense.

For three days light machine gun and repeater rifle fire did not stop, and neither side gave an inch until the Biafrans ran out of ammunition and were forced to retreat to Aba.

For twelve days bloody house-to-house fighting ensued and bodies filled Red Cross hospitals before the final Biafrans surrendered on 14 September.

Only a few hours later Colonel Kalu ordered a Biafran counterattack and with the assistance of the Ogbunigwe mine the Nigerian advance was halted and Obinze was captured.

The 5th, 21st, 22nd, and 44th battalions of the Nigerian 1st Division began making their way northwards towards the Obiangwu airstrip from to axes after overrunning Biafran positions on the banks of the Imo River.

In mid-September, the French President Charles de Gaulle openly voiced his support for the Biafran cause and began shipping weapons to Biafra.

While Yakubu Gowon was distracted by the anti-tax riots in western Nigeria the Biafran Brigadier Alexander Madiebo encircled Owerri, trapping the 3,000-man Nigerian 16th Division inside the city.