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Major Albert Nwazu Okonkwo (// ) was a Nigerian military officer and later a Major in the Biafran Army Medical Corps during the Nigerian Civil War. Originally from Igbuzor (IBUSA), in Oshimili North Local Govt. of Delta State. He was a Medical Doctor who got his licence as a Heart Surgeon from United States of America. He is known for being the brief Military Administrator of the Mid-Western State of Nigeria during the Mid-West invasion in the early phase of the civil war. He was a trained physician trained in the United States, and was married to an American.

Life

Okonkwo was a military doctor and the commanding officer of the Nigerian Armed Forces Medical Service in Benin City right before the Civil War. At the onset of the war, he became one of the top ranked rebel commanders in the Mid-West region that later became briefly known as Republic of Benin by rebel leaders.

On 9 August 1967, a force of 3,000 Biafran troops crossed the Niger bridge, with one group making a dash for Benin City. On 14 August the Biafran command in Enugu announced that Major Okonkwo had been appointed Military Administrator of the Mid-Western Region. The new administration faced resistance from several segments of the population. Morale was poor. The Liberation Army commander, a Yoruba colonel named Victor Banjo, and three majors were later discovered to have been negotiating with the Nigerian army, were tried for high treason and executed by firing squad in Enugu.

The Nigerian Army regrouped and advanced towards Benin city under the leadership of Colonel Murtala Mohammed, recapturing the city on 20 September 1967. The day before, Okonkwo had been declared Governor of the "autonomous, independent and sovereign republic of Benin". In his broadcast declaring the independent Republic of Benin, Okonkwo belatedly tried to rally non-Igbo groups. After the city fell, Okonkwo was thought to have fled to Igbo areas near Ubiaja.

References

1. ^ Meto Edgar Onwuamaegbu (2007). Those That Trespass Against Us. Lulu.com. p. 215. ISBN 978-1-84753-240-4.
2. "Republic of Benin". World Statesmen. Archived from the original on 28 May 2010. Retrieved 19 April 2010.
3. "Breakaway Nigerian Area Lasts Only One Day". Gadsden Times. 16 September 1967. Retrieved 19 April 2010.
4. ^ Nowamagbe A. Omoigui. "The Midwest Invasion of 1967: Lessons for Today's Geopolitics". Dawodu. Retrieved 19 April 2010.
5. "Major Okonkwo Announces Establishment of the Republic of Benin". Dawodu. Retrieved 19 April 2010.
6. "Nigerian Forces Ordered into Ibo Tribal Sections". Lewiston Daily Sun. 22 September 1967.

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