Cut off from the world and heavily outgunned, Biafra created the Research and Production (RAP) directorate. Igbo scientists and engineers, including Gordian Ezekwe, Benjamin Nwosu and Willy Achukwu, produced improvised solutions out of necessity: small-scale refining of crude oil, communications equipment and locally built weapons.
The best-known local weapon was the Ogbunigwe (“mass killer”), a family of improvised explosive munitions produced in large numbers from 1967. They are remembered above all for the 1968 Battle of Abagana, where Biafran soldiers led by Major Jonathan Uchendu ambushed a large federal convoy and destroyed it after hitting a fuel tanker. Whatever one thinks of the war, Biafra’s self-reliance is now a symbol of Igbo ingenuity under pressure.