President Buhari reveals instruction Yakubu Gowon gave soldiers during Biafra War

04.06.2018 22:19

- President Buhari commended the Nigerian Red Cross for its work in the country

- The president recalled the huge sacrifices they made during the Biafra war

- He said Gowon asked soldiers to be soft on the Biafra soldiers during the war

President Muhammadu Buhari has commended the Nigerian Red Cross saying the organisation sacrificed a lot during the infamous Biafra civil war.

The Cable reports that the president said this at his investiture as Grand Patron of the Nigerian Red Cross Society (NRCS) at the presidential villa

President Buhari said the then head of state, Yakubu Gowon gave them instruction to be soft on the Biafran soldier reminding them they were fighting their friends not their enemies.

He said: “Earlier in my profession, during the civil war, I know how much sacrifice members of the Nigerian Red Cross and their international counterparts did both in the real front of operations and at the rear, on both sides. I think it is a lot of sacrifices because anything can happen to you in the operational areas.

“The risks they faced were real and I admire their courage and commitment to helping people who were in distress and were virtually in millions. Those photographs of people from the Biafra enclave spoke a lot.

“I remember with nostalgia the performance of the commander-in-chief, General Yakubu Gowon. Every commander was given a copy of the commander-in-chief’s instructions that we were not fighting enemies but that we were fighting our brothers. And thus, people were constrained to show a lot of restraint.

“The international observer teams were allowed to go as far as possible within and outside the front and I think this was generous and very considerate of General Gowon. He is a highly committed Nigerian.”

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Meanwhile, Nigeria’s ambassador to Uganda, Nyah Asuquo, has defended the Muhammadu Buhari-led administration, saying governors should be blamed for the poverty in the country, not the presidency.

Reacting to allegations that the Buhari-APC government has failed in the area of economy and making life unbearable to Nigerians, Asuquo, a former House member representing Calabar Municipality/Udukpani federal constituency, said the present administration was making tremendous progress in the area of job creation, agriculture and corruption, Daily Sun reports.

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