Footage of members of Nigeria's Supreme Military Council meeting on Saturday May 10th 1969 at Dodan Barracks in Lagos to review the position of officers commanding the divisions which were surrounding the breakaway state of Biafra.
The meeting was attended by the Head of State, General Yakubu Gowon, the Chief of Staff Supreme Headquarters Rear Admiral Joseph Wey, service chiefs, the Inspector General of Police, and the military governors of Nigeria's states.
It was already leaked to news agencies that the Federal Nigerian Civil War commanders were to be removed from the fronts and reassigned to new jobs at the Supreme Military Headquarters in Lagos.
The London Times newspaper revealed that Colonel Benjamin Adekunle, the controversial commander of the Third Marine Commando Division, was among those relieved of their front-line commands. Adekunle was being considered for re-deployment to the post of Director of Training and Planning.
Colonel Mohamed Shuwa of the First Division, whose units captured Umuahia, the Biafran administrative headquarters, was expected to become Military Secretary.
The Supreme Military Council, which had begun its deliberations two days earlier, considered proposals to appoint new men to conduct the 23-month civil war against Biafra, the breakaway eastern region of Nigeria.
General Gowon called the Council meeting to discuss the recent loss to Biafran troops of the strategic town of Owerri.
In its first sessions the Council approved a new national budget in which the emphasis was on increased military expenditure.
Source: Reuters News.
