Fall of Enugu

The Fall of Enugu, (October 4, 1967), was a military conflict between Nigerian and Biafran forces. Enugu was invaded after the Biafran retreat from the Mid-Western Region only 14 days earlier after the Nigerian 2nd and 3rd Marine Division cleared them of the area.

Prelude
When Nsukka fell to the Nigerian Army under General Olusegun Obasanjo the Biafran President, Odumegwu Ojukwu, knew that his capital would be the Nigerian's next target. After a failed invasion of Nsukka on July 30, 1967 resulted in the death of Major Kaduna Nzeogwu President Ojukwu began drawing up plans for an invasion of Nigeria's Mid-Western Region in an attempt to divert attention away from Enugu. The invasion of August 9 was a tremendous success for the Biafrans and was followed by a sort of 44 day stalemate, before it was broken by the Nigerian 2nd Division's invasion of Ore. Biafran soldiers retreated from the region on September 20, 1967 and fled back to their homeland, pursued by Nigerian soldiers. The commander of Nigerian troops stationed in Nsukka, General Obasanjo, was relieved of his command and replaced with Lt. Col. Theophilus Danjuma.

Enugu to Ogboja
On October 4, 1967 Lt. Col. Danjuma led a division of Nigerian soldiers from Nsukka 60km southwards towards Enugu. When news of the invasion reached President Ojukwu in Enugu he began evacuating his capital of both government officials and citizens, thinking they'd be massacred by the invading Nigerian soldiers. A unit of Biafran soldiers that were stationed inside the city retreated to Ogoja but were pursued by Danjuma's troops. When the two sides met in Ogoja Nigerian artillery began bombarding the city while ground forces moved into the city. Half the civilian population of Ogoja fled the city while bloody house-to-house fighting took hold of the city for the entire day. The Biafrans were forced to retreat while 300 captured Biafran soldiers were executed by their Nigerian captors.

Aftermath
After Enugu fell to Danjuma President Ojukwu moved his capital to Umuahia and surrounded it with defenses. On October 5 thousands of civilians in Asaba were massacred by the Nigerian 2nd Division under General Murtala Mohammed after being forced to attend a public dance, known as the Asaba massacre. The 2nd Division attempted numerous invasions of Onitsha but all were repulsed, before it was finally captured by the 2nd Division on March 20, 1968.