Re-Captured Biafran Naval Ship Displayed By The Nigerian Navy | Sept. 1967

The ship had been commissioned into the service of the Nigerian Navy as NNS Ibadan in October 1966, one of three such vessels that were built in 1950, and sold to Nigeria from Britain's "mothball fleet."

As NNS Ibadan, it had been on patrol off the coast of Nigeria's Eastern region, but was taken over by the Biafran Navy after secession in May 1967.

BNS Ibadan was damaged during a sea battle with NNS Ogoja. Both ships were commanded by two former comrades, "Ibadan" by
Lieutenant-Commander Pascal Odu, and "Ogoja" by Lieutenant-Commander Akin Aduwo.

The battle for Bonny Island, an oil terminal of great strategic importance was the result of a joint army and naval operation by the federal side.

Aduwo's ship was able to inflict significant damage when Odu's ship became a stationary target after it ran aground in shallow waters. BNS Ibadan's converted anti-aircraft gun kept jamming at intervals, so Odu decided to turn his ship around whenever it jammed so as to keep its distance from Aduwo's ship. But it eventually entered shallow waters and was unable to manoeuvre back to the open sea.

Aduwo paused after a canon from his ship scored a direct hit on Ibadan's engine room, but Odu escaped rather than surrender.

Speaking to newsmen while dressed in civilian clothes and wearing sunglasses, Aduwo said when members of his crew finally gained access to Bonny, the Biafrans on board the "Ibadan" jumped overboard and swam away. He said two bodies were found on board the minesweeper, one no more than a skull.

The damage to "Ibadan" was irreparable, making it of no use to the Nigerian Navy. It was later broken up.

Both protagonist captains in the battle between BNS Ibadan and NNS Ogoja met after the war. Aduwo was curious as to why Odu had not surrendered when he had paused firing at the stricken "Ibadan" and used a megaphone to make an offer to his former comrade (who he could see clearly through binoculars) to join him on his ship. He had prepared life boats to collect Odu's crew. Odu replied:

“Come on Akin, how would you expect me to have come under that circumstance? I heard you loud and clear really, but I just could not come. Any member of your crew could easily have shot me while you are not looking. You can never tell in war time”.
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