@itsOnyim Another masterclass in dishonesty, selective quotation, and historical distortion. Let us examine what the historical record and your own cited source actually say: 1. The Bogey of the Unnamed "Yoruba Commander" You deliberately avoided naming the "Yoruba commander" because identifying Lt. Col. Victor Banjo immediately exposes your narrative. Banjo never planned or intended to "massacre" anyone, and there is zero historical evidence that he sought to "massacre the Midwest region into the Western region". If you have any credible record of this, produce it. · Banjo was an uncompromising Nigerian federalist who sought to depose Yakubu Gowon's regime and restore a united Nigeria, declaring this in an unauthorized broadcast on August 14, 1967. · In response, Ojukwu issued his August 24 directive, laying out strict, non-negotiable conditions before permitting Banjo to advance into the West. · Ojukwu's instruction to minimize casualties applied specifically to the planned operation in Yorubaland; it was never proof that Banjo intended a massacre in the Midwest. Major Albert Okonkwo had already taken charge in Benin as the Mid-West administrator at this point. · Condition 3(i) ordered: "You will have nothing to do with the Military Administrator in the Mid-West Territory during your sojourn there prior to your move to the West". This was not about preventing bloodshed; it was Ojukwu ordering Banjo to stop meddling with Okonkwo's administration. While Banjo's August 14 broadcast confirmed he had met David Ejoor and assured listeners of Ejoor's safety, it reflected an effort to secure local cooperation rather than Ojukwu's agenda. His preference for a non-Igbo Midwestern administrator did not mean he wants Ejoor installed as the administrator. · Condition 3(ii) also directly countered Banjo's "One Nigeria" vision, warning that Biafra's assistance "does not in any way imply any inclination on her part to compromise her sovereignty or preserve what remains of the defunct Federation of Nigeria". 2. The Fiction of Ojukwu’s "Friendship" Highlighting the line "Biafra regards all Yorubas as friends" is pure misdirection designed to conceal the terms of subjugation detailed in Clause 3. Ojukwu’s letter demonstrates that this was not an alliance among equals, but an arrangement designed to reduce Yorubaland to a vassal dependency: · Indefinite Military Occupation: Condition 3(iv) declared that Biafran troops would stay in Yorubaland "only for as long as we in Biafra consider it necessary" · Total Political Veto: Condition 3(vii) stipulated that "During the period of Biafrans troops' presence in your territory, all political measures, statements or decrees shall be subject to the approval, in writing by myself or on my authority". · Unilateral control of Lagos: Condition 3(viii) reserved Biafra's right to appoint a Military Administrator over Lagos who would remain in power until a merger was "effected by Biafran troops". In case the implications have escaped you, let us spell them out. Who determined how long Biafran troops would remain? Enugu. Who approved political measures? Ojukwu. Who reserved the appointment of Lagos’s administrator? Biafra. While Condition 3(ix) contemplated later discussions regarding the duration of the military presence and inter-state cooperation, those future talks did not erase the unilateral executive powers Ojukwu reserved for himself during the occupation. This is not friendship; it is akin to the relationship between Nazi Germany and Vichy France. 3. The Ruse of The Republic of Benin and the Midwest Occupation Blueprint The declaration of the short-lived "Republic of Benin" on September 20, 1967, was not an act of self-determination; it was a desperate political maneuver of an occupying force: · Rather than dispelling local fears of the Midwest invasion being an "Igbo affair," Ojukwu dismissed Banjo's counsel to appoint a non-Igbo administrator and imposed Major Albert Okonkwo. · Key Midwestern officials were systematically rounded up and deported to Enugu, including J.E. Imoukhuede (Secretary to the Government), J.A. Adeola (Commissioner of Police), Olu Akpata (Permanent Secretary), and Sam Uweni (NBC Chief Engineer). · Over 150 administrative personnel were transplanted from the East to take over the Midwestern civil service without due process. · More than £2 million was taken from the Central Bank of Nigeria branch in Benin and transferred to the Eastern Region's African Continental Bank (ACB). · Non-Igbo civilian populations faced systemic harassment, targeted arrests, and extrajudicial killings alongside Northern residents. This was a colonizing agenda engineered strictly from Enugu, which was precisely why Banjo balked at the alliance. 4. Denying Eyewitness Testimony: S.E. Orobator and the Tribunal Records Claiming that S.E. Orobator relied only on "biased wartime press releases" is an attempt to erase sworn victim testimonies preserved in the historical record. The proceedings of the 1968 Chief D.N. Oronsaye Commission of Inquiry, referenced in the scholarly work, detailed civilian and eyewitness accounts:: · The Ossiomo River Discoveries: Over 300 bodies, including those of children, were recovered at Abudu from the Ossiomo River as Biafran forces withdrew. · Targeted Mass Executions: On September 20, 1967, mass killings of non-Igbo Midwesterners took place at Boji-Boji Agbor. On September 23, non-Igbo civilians were apprehended at Asaba, Ibusa, and Agbor, loaded into two lorries, driven to a rubber plantation along the Uromi–Agbor road, and executed. · Widespread Civilian Abuse: The inquiry recorded pervasive reports of rape, arbitrary arrests, looting, and unlawful confiscation of private property. · Targeted Detention: Warri-based lawyer E.K. Iseru testified under oath that he was stripped naked and starved for three days simply for advocating for the Rivers State, told bluntly: "there is no food for Hausa friends." Dismissing documented judicial inquiries, missionary records, and civilian eyewitness testimonies as lacking "independent evidence" is flatly false. It is a callous attempt to excuse Biafran military atrocities while minimizing the suffering of the victims. I have attached the full transcription of the letter & the relevant page from Orabator's work so that people can read for themselves.