International records / Foreign Relations of the United States

397. National Intelligence Estimate

ard M. Helms, and concurred in by the U.S. Intelligence Board on May 2. NIE 64.2–68 Washington , May 2, 1968 . CONSEQUENCES OF CIVIL STRIFE IN NIGERIA Conclusions A. The Federal Military Government’s ( FMG ) forces clearly hold the upper hand in the Nigerian civil war and a military victory for Biafra seems highly unlikely. We cannot, however, rule out a settlement which left a Biafra with a large degree of autonomy. The Ibos, who dominate Biafra, are resisting stubbornly because they believe that Federal forces are intent upon exterminating them or at least reducing them to subjugation in a r…