Colonel Achuzie AKA “Hannibal” the Man who recaptured Onitsha city from the Nigerian Army

Colonel Achuzie AKA “Hannibal” the Man who recaptured Onitsha city from the Nigerian Army

Colonel Achuzie AKA “Hannibal” the Man who recaptured Onitsha city from the Nigerian Army the following year after Biafra operation Hiroshima failed and Biafra lost Onitsha to Nigerian Army. Major Achuzia was an Unsung hero.. Operation Hiroshima was a military operation conducted by the Biafran 4th commando brigade in an attempt to recapture Onitsha from the Nigerian 2nd division..

Joseph “Hannibal” Achuzia, Born in Asaba 1929 and died in Asaba 26 February 2018, He as a Nigerian British-trained aeronautical engineer who served as a major in the Biafran Army..

Prior to joining the Biafran Army in May 1967, Achuzia had been an engineer with the Shell Petroleum company based in Portharcourt. He was amongst the founders and organizers of the civil militia in Portharcourt, and when that outfit was disbanded, joined the Biafran army as a colonel. He had a British wife and a son as of January 1970 when the civil war ended, but fled to the southeast in fear of anti-Igbo sentiment among his fellow soldiers. After Biafran soldiers were forced to retreat across the River Niger Bridge into Onitsha on September 20, 1967 Achuzia was promoted to Major and given command of the Biafran 11th Battalion, responsible for defending the area between Atani and Ndoni from an imminent Nigerian attack.

After the Biafran 18th Battalion under Colonel Assam Nsudoh was forced to retreat from Onitsha after 8 days of bloody house-to-house fighting, the 11th Battalion under Maj. Achuzie linked up with the 18th Battalion east of the city and made plans to counter-attack. The 18th Battalion swung south along the Old Market Road while the 11th Battalion under Maj.

Achuzie swung north along the New Market Road in a coordinated Pincer movement. The majority of the 5,000 man Nigerian 2nd Division army stationed in Onitsha were either massacred or taken prisoner by Achuzia’s men..