BENDEL

Dcember 2009
New article name is
The Bendel
References <Bendelrepublic@live.com> <United Peoples Liberation Front>

==
History of the Bendel ==
the bendel derives it's past from the Ancient Benin Empire, which was founded by Ogiso Igodo during the 3rd Century B.C.,and whichat it's height under Oba Ewuare in the 16th century covered the whole of Edo,Delta,Ondo,Ekiti,Lagos,Anambra and parts of Kogi,Ogun,Oyo,and Bayelsa states of present day Nigeria(see Jacob Egharevba 'A short History Of Benin').
Modern History
Starting from 1850 the British Empire and the Benin Empire were engaged in a longstanding enmity, over the opposition of the Oba of Benin to British expansion in the Lower Niger Basin. This enmity culminated in the Benin-British War of 1897,in which the Benin Empire was defeated after 3monthsheavy fighting.
The Oba was deported to Calabar the then Capital of British Nigeria(see OVBIEROBA et al 'The fall of Benin').
Nigerian Era
On the threshhold of Nigerian independence, the elite of the Edo-speaking and Edo related ethnic groups requested for a region to be created for them, a dream which was only realised in 1962, when the Mid-western region was created with capital in Benin. However during the crisis leading up to the Nigerian-Biafra War or the Nigerian Civil War(1967-1970)the new Region was ignored by ell the regions except the Eastern Region,in the Negotiations in Ghana.

Nigerian Civil War and Republic of Benin
With the outbreak of the Nigerian Biafran War in 1967, the Edos,Etsakos,Aniomas,Urhobo-Isoko and other Ethnic groups in the region were at the front of the war as overZealous Nigerian Soldiers raided,killed and raped the citizens of the Region Mercilessly.
Salvation came when The 101 Division of the Biafran Army crossed the River Niger and drove out the Nigerian soldiers.
Colonel Banjo commander of the Biafran invasion force,acting in consultation with pro-independence leaders of the Region including Major S.O Ogbemudia and Colonel M. Okwechime,m declared the Region an 'independent Republic of Benin' with Capital in Benin.
However due to a number of factors the Biafran Army was routed by the Nigerian Army thus ending the Republic of Benin.
Division of the Region
in 1991 the Region which had been renamed Bendel State in recognition of the Area's History, was split into Edo and Delta States.

Bendel Nationalism
Bendel Nationalism began in Febuary 2006 when a group of students namely Prince F.O. Nelson-Egede(representing Afemai-Etsako), Ibrahim Mahmudu(representing Afemai-Ora) Gabriel Omosigho(Bini)Efe Jonathan(Delta & Urhobo) and John Okwechime(Anioma)bande together and formed the United Peoples Liberation Front which was an armed movement seeking to establish the Bendel Union,an independent homeland for the Edo-Descendent ethnic groups of the Western Forest Belt of the lower Niger Basin. The Movement quickly grew having almost 700 armed fighters and 500 volunteers within it's ranks by Febuary 2007. Barely three months later, three of the five founding members were killed in a Nigerian military and security operation which also claimed the lives of all but 52 of the fighters and volunteers. The only surviving leaders Prince F.O. Nelson-Egede( Deputy Supreme Leader)and Ibrahim Mahmudu(Supreme Leader) split the organization into two camps after Ibrahim Mahmudu signed an agreement of incorporation with the Biafran freedom organization MASSOB, a move bitterly opposed by Prince Nelson-Egede and Yavel Al-kazir the two most prominent leaders of the Front.

United Bendel Liberation Front
in January 2009, the Yavel Al-kazir and Prince F.O. Nelson-Egede factions bonded into a new organization called the United Bendel Liberation Front, which is in an embryonic and training stage. unlike the U.P.L.F,the U.B.L.F espouse diplomacy and in hand with Armed resistance.

The Bendel Union
The Bendel Union is an independent state being agitated for by the U.B.L.F, comprising of the Nigerian-held states of EDO,ONDO,DELTA,EKITI. Possessing a Population of some 18million(health statistics from the region), the Union has several ethnic groups including: Bini,Etsako,Esan,Anioma,Urhobo-Isoko,Itsekiri,Ekiti,Akoko, and Ondo. Also immigrant Native Ijaws are found in the coastal area.

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