‘Your Offence is That You By-Passed Us’: Women, Violence and Agency in Biafra during the Nigeria–Biafra War, 1967–1970

Abstract

This article examines women's roles in Biafra during the Nigerian Civil War. For more than five decades, the history of women's support for Biafra's secessionist struggle has been marginalised in the existing literature. Much of what we know about the conflict has been based on men's exploits and perspectives, creating an imbalance in the war's narratives. With the aid of recently conducted interviews and ample archival materials, this article brings a new insight into the war, challenging the long-sustained assumption that women played marginal roles in the conflict.