Retired Brigadier General Alabi Isama, author of Tragedy of Victory: On-the-Spot Account of the Nigeria-Biafra War in the Atlantic Theater has shared a revealing account of the deep mistrust and suspicion that pervaded the Nigerian Civil War.
Speaking on the Edmund Obilo podcast, Isama recounted how, during a visit to his father’s hometown, Utagba-Uno in Delta State, he found himself viewed with suspicion by both Biafran and Federal forces.
According to Isama, he traveled to the village with his mother during the war. While there, his mother urged the locals to support the Federal Government. However, when the villagers asked for his name and he replied, “Abdulrahman,” the reaction was one of skepticism.
“But then look at it, either way, Biafran troops did not trust me, the Northern troops, Federal troops did not trust me,” he said.
Isama explained that the Biafran side likely saw him as aligned with the Federal cause due to his mother’s plea, while the Federal or Northern troops viewed his roots in the eastern region with suspicion. This left him caught in a no-man’s land of mistrust, despite holding the rank of Major in the Nigerian Army at the time.
The retired general’s experience reflects the ethnic, political and regional divisions that ran deep during the war where even a name could trigger doubts about loyalty. His story also highlights the personal cost of a conflict that fractured communities and made trust a rare commodity.
Listeners to the podcast described the account as both poignant and illustrative of the war’s human dimension, a reminder that beyond the battlefield strategies, the Nigerian Civil War was also fought in the hearts and minds of those whose identities straddled the lines of division.
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