Republic of Benin | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1967 | |||||||||
| Motto: "Unity and Strength" | |||||||||
&sq=&lang=&file=File:Map_of_Benin_with_Biafra_and_Nigeria.svg) Location of the Republic of Benin in red, with Biafra in striped red and Nigeria in dark gray. | |||||||||
| Status | Puppet state of Biafra | ||||||||
| Capital | Benin City | ||||||||
| Common languages | English (official) French · Edo · Igbo · Ijaw · Urhobo | ||||||||
| Demonym(s) | Bini | ||||||||
| Government | Republic | ||||||||
| Governor | |||||||||
• 1967-1970 | Albert Nwazu Okonkwo | ||||||||
| Historical era | Nigerian Civil War | ||||||||
• Established | 19 September 1967 | ||||||||
• Disestablished | January 15 1970 | ||||||||
| Population | |||||||||
• 1967 | approx. 3,000,000 | ||||||||
| Currency | Biafran pound Nigerian pound | ||||||||
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The Republic of Benin was a short-lived unrecognized secessionist state in West Africa that existed for seven hours in 1967. It was established on 19 September 1967 during the Nigerian Civil War as a puppet state of Biafra, following its occupation of Nigeria's Mid-Western Region, and named after its capital, Benin City, with Albert Nwazu Okonkwo as its head of government.
The new state was an attempt by Biafra to prevent non-Igbo residents of the neighbouring Mid-Western Region from siding with Nigeria following regional ethnic tensions early in the war. The Republic of Benin was officially declared even as the Nigerian federal forces were reconquering the region and ended the following day as they entered Benin City.[1]: 369 The occupation of the Mid-Western Region turned residents against the secessionist cause and was used by the Nigerian government as justification to escalate the war against Biafra.
- ^ Orobator, S. E. (1987). "The Biafran Crisis and the Midwest". African Affairs. 86 (344): 367–383. doi:10.1093/oxfordjournals.afraf.a097919. JSTOR 722748.