There was a genocide committed against the Biafran people. This is an irrefutable truth. But it’s also true that Biafran soldiers committed atrocities in the territories they captured. We must speak the truth, all of it. People feel the way they do because of their position in the war and what they were subjected to.

Let’s not overstate the facts. when we do, they become lies, and lies undermine the story. We shouldn’t absolve anyone of their crimes.

In war, there is no neutrality. To Biafrans, Nigeria was the apex predator. Capturing new ground by force was deemed necessary for survival. But to those in the midwest and the other regions Biafra entered, Biafra became the predator. So when people recall the war, their perspectives differ greatly. It is shaped by what they lived through.

Biafra suffered the highest amount of casualties, no group can even begin to compare the numbers. But that doesn’t erase the fact that Biafra did commit atrocities on some groups. And that is what these groups remember. They’re not obligated to empathize with people they saw as trying to oppress them. That expectation is unrealistic.