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Former Military Head of State, Yakubu Gowon, has revealed that France gave support to the late Lieutenant Colonel Odumegwu Ojukwu, to launch a civil war against Nigeria in the hope of controlling mineral deposits in the proposed Republic of Biafra.
The former Head of State stated this in his 859-page autobiography, My Life of Duty and Loyalty, titled “No Going Back,” which was launched in Abuja on Tuesday.
He said in his book that Ojukwu, mortgaged Biafra’s mineral wealth to the Rothschild banking family for $10 million at the time, which was about N5 million at the time.
He said this was in return for France’s support for the secession effort.
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In the book, Gowon says that as the war intensified, France provided enormous support to the rebel government through the former African territories it controlled, with this support given in return for France’s expected successful secession from Biafra.
According to him, the true depth of the transaction only became known when the Nigerian Consulate in New York intercepted intelligence information regarding the purchase of B-26 aircraft sent via the South American country.
“It was later discovered that this was in return for what they expected from him if he succeeded in seceding from Nigeria.
“Indeed, he had mortgaged Biafra’s mineral wealth to the Rothschilds for about $10 million or about N5 million at that time.
“Our knowledge of this deal was accidental because the Nigerian Consulate in New York had intercepted information regarding the purchase of B-26 aircraft to be sent to Biafra via the South American country,” Gowon said.
