31 OCTOBER 1968, SOMEWHERE IN IGBOLAND DURING THE NIGERIAN CIVIL WAR:
31 OCTOBER 1968, SOMEWHERE IN IGBOLAND DURING THE NIGERIAN CIVIL WAR:
The two senior offic€rs smiling in this photograph were members of the International Observer Team sent to Nigeria during the Civil War to investigate allegations about the conduct of Federal tro’ops.
On the left is Major-General Arthur Raab of Sweden, while on the right is Major-General Henry T. Alexander of Brit@in.
The observer team was invited by the Federal Government of Nigeria after @llegations of genocide and systematic att@cks against the Igbo population were made in connection with the w@r.
Their assignment was to travel to areas where Federal troops were operating, inspect milit@ry positions and civili@n areas, speak with soldiers and civilians, and r€port what they observed.
Their first report, dated 2 October 1968, was signed by Alexander, Raab and Canadian Major-General W. A. Milroy. The observers reported that they had visited frontline positions, military units, villages, markets, hospitals, r€fugee camps and towns, and had spoken with officers, sold1ers, civilians, r€fugees, pol!ce, Red Cross officials and missionaries.
Their conclusion was significant: they said they found no evidence of an intention by Federal tro`ops to d€stroy the Igbo people and that the use of the term “genoc!de” was not justified by what they had observed.
That finding, however, remains part of the historical record of a highly contested w@r. The observers’ access was largely on the Federal side, and contemporary critics questioned whether this gave them sufficient opportunity to investigate allegations in Biafran-held territory.
This photograph was taken during one of their field visits in the w@r zone. It was not Abuja, as some captions have claimed. Abuja was not Nigeria’s capital in 1968; Lagos was.
Behind the two generals are Nigerian sold!ers as the observers inspect the area.
A photograph of two men sent into the middle of one of Africa’s most controversi@l w@rs — to see for themselves what was happening on the ground.
Sources: International Observer Team Report, October 1968; UK Parliament, Hansard, 22 October 1968.
