A series of anti-Igbo pogroms took place in northern Nigeria from May to September 1966 largely as a reaction to the Igbo coup d’état that occurred the previous January in which many northern military officers were killed. Though killings took place throughout the period of May to September 1966, they peaked on three days: May 29, July 29, and September 29. Once the pogroms had ended, there were very few easterners left in the north because most were either dead, had fled to the eastern region, or were hiding with sympathetic northerners. Based on one estimate, some 3,000-30,000 Igbo were killed during this period, and another 150,000-300,000 fled to southern and eastern regions. However, as a result of these killings, many northerners who had been living in the eastern region were also targeted and killed.
There is not uniform agreement among scholars as to which term most accurately describes the killings of the Igbo. Some call it a “holocaust,” while others loosely describe this period as being comprised of “pogroms, riots, or genocide.”