By AFPMore by this AuthorUMUAHIA, NigeriaNigeria on Tuesday marks 50 years since the declaration of an independent Republic of Biafra plunged the country into a civil war, amid renewed tensions and fresh calls for a separate state. The main pro-independence groups — the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), and the Movement for the Actualisation of the Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB) — have called for a day of reflection. Both have been dominated by the two other main ethnic groups in the country, the northern Hausa-Fulani and the Yoruba from the southwest. At least 60 were killed during commemorations for the civil war on May 30 last year, the human rights group alleged. Nigeria is made up of some 250 ethnic groups and broadly divided between a largely Muslim north and mainly Christian south.

Source: Daily Nation May 28, 2017 15:00 UTC