Ifeoma Chukwuogo’s ‘No Victors’ Tells the Human Stories of the Biafran War

Between 6 July 1967 to 15 January 1970, Nigeria lost a generation she will never recover to the Biafran war. Hundreds of thousands died, and even those they left behind never fully recovered from the horrors of the war. Disappointedly, the country has always shied away from the topic, and because of this, stories about the war and the people involved have not been adequately told to the present generation. Nollywood filmmaker Ifeoma Chukwuogo (Bariga Sugar) wants to fix that with No Victors, a documentary series that provides unique insights into the war through those who lived it.

Here’s the official synopsis:

One of the greatest African tragedies of the 20th century, like most catastrophic events in history, it is often described and retold in political and historical terms. But at the backdrop of every historical event, there are everyday people. In this case, people who while navigating their existence as we do, found themselves entangled in the horrible realities of war on the dawn of a country’s independence and promise of a prosperous future.

The stars of No Victors are these people – on both sides – who witnessed this moment in history and were directly affected by its events. These characters are more than mere statistics of history. They are soldiers, civilians, aid workers, rebels, politicians, foreigners, fathers, mothers, children, lovers, and friends sharing their stories, experiences and insights. Because behind the politics at play, there are always human beings.

Below is a featurette of the first episode The Voluntary Child Soldier, the survival story of one of Biafra’s youngest soldiers, Weluche Ume, who volunteered to be a Biafran child soldier and was recruited at 14 after many failed attempts to join the army.