Jumoke Ogunkeyede, an activist, has spoken about the Nigerian Civil War that took place from 1967 to 1970
In an interview on the State Affairs show with Edmund Obilo, Ogunkeyede said during the early stage of the war the Ijesha people raised money to support Biafran leader Chukwuemeka Ojukwu. He said many of them believed that Ojukwu was fighting a just cause at the time
Ogunkeyede stated that when Biafran forces from the east began to advance towards Lagos, the Ijesha people who had earlier supported Ojukwu began to see the war as an attempt by Ojukwu to build an empire for himself. He said Ojukwu eventually lost the support of the Ijesha people and many others who had previously sympathized with him after he attacked Yoruba communities in the Mid-West region
In Ogunkeyede’s words: “Ojukwu was now building an empire, if not you are liberating yourself why are you facing Lagos?”
You can watch the video from 21:47 to 21:54 below