The late Isaac Boro of the minority Ijaw ethnic group

The nation woke up one morning in February to hear of secession. The late Isaac Boro of the minority Ijaw ethnic group, ex-policeman, ex-University student, had declared the Niger Delta Republic and had taken up arms against
his fatherland. Most people in the “South” assumed that this was part of the proposed NNA coup which had been foiled by the military take-over. It was said openly that the idea was to plant a war of secession in the Niger Delta area, and to use this as a pretext for Sir Abubakar’s government to declare a State of Emergency in the East and arrest NCNC leaders there. However, the coup having happened, Isaac Boro was loath to cancel plans which had taken months to prepare.

In his posthumously-published book, The Twelve-Day Revolution (Idodo Umeh Publishers, Benin, 1982), he states:

𝘈 𝘕𝘪𝘨𝘦𝘳 𝘋𝘦𝘭𝘵𝘢 𝘚𝘵𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘢 𝘤𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘳 𝘤𝘢𝘴𝘦 𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘥 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘢 𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘵 𝘩𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘭 𝘴𝘪𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘦. 𝘚𝘶𝘤𝘩 𝘢 𝘥𝘦𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘦𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘢 𝘪𝘴 𝘴𝘰 𝘷𝘪𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦, 𝘺𝘦𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘣𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘭𝘺 𝘥𝘦𝘯𝘪𝘦𝘥 𝘥𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘭𝘰𝘱𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘮𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘯𝘦𝘤𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘭𝘪𝘧𝘦, 𝘐𝘧 𝘕𝘪𝘨𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘢𝘯 𝘨𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘯𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘴 𝘳𝘦𝘧𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘥𝘰 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘥𝘳𝘢𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘪𝘮𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘰𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦, 𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘷𝘪𝘵𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘺 𝘢 𝘱𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘯𝘰 𝘳𝘦𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘯 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘣𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘥; 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘦𝘷𝘪𝘭 𝘪𝘴 𝘢𝘧𝘰𝘰𝘵.

The aim of his “revolution”, he claims, was:

…𝘵𝘰 𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘢𝘯 𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘯𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘢𝘴𝘴𝘰𝘤𝘪𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘳𝘦𝘭𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘕𝘪𝘨𝘦𝘳 𝘋𝘦𝘭𝘵𝘢 𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘢 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘢𝘯𝘺 𝘴𝘶𝘱𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵𝘴𝘰𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘸 𝘯𝘦𝘸𝘭𝘺-𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘮𝘦𝘥 𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘺 𝘨𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘯𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘕𝘪𝘨𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘢. 𝘐𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘤𝘵, 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦, 𝘸𝘦 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘸 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘬 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘕𝘪𝘨𝘦𝘳 𝘋𝘦𝘭𝘵𝘢 𝘈𝘳𝘦𝘢 𝘢𝘸𝘢𝘺 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘢 𝘯𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘮𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘢𝘪𝘯 𝘪𝘵.

His editor, Tony Tebekaemi, asserts in a forward to the book that his action was “farcical recklessness” and his efforts “sinisterly bewildering to his people.”

The Ironsi regime moved in against Boro and quickly captured him before more harm could be done. The Eastern Nigerian High Court tried and sentenced him to death for treason. Ironsi had shown that his regime could maintain law and order.

PHOTO Credit: Late ex-convict Isaac Boro