Voice of Biafra Bunker

Useful Information

Location:	At the National War Museum, National War Museum Rd, Umuahia 440236, Abia. (5.544198, 7.485902)
Open:	All year Mon-Sat 8-18. [2025]
Fee:	Adults NGN 300, Adults with Generator NGN 1,000. [2025]
Classification:	World War II Bunker
Light:	Incandescent
Dimension:
Guided tours:	self guided
Photography:	not allowed
Accessibility:	no
Bibliography:
Address:	National War Museum, National War Museum Rd, Umuahia 440236, Abia, Tel: +234-701-789-5370.
As far as we know this information was accurate when it was published (see years in brackets), but may have changed since then. Please check rates and details directly with the companies in question if you need more recent info.

History

1967-1970	Biafran War.
1972	War Museum established.
1975	museum opened.
1979	museum recognized by the National Commission for Museums and Monuments.

Description

The National War Museum has three main topics: the general history of war, the Nigerian Armed Forces, and the Voice of Biafra Bunker. The last is located below the museum and may be visited self-guided. A long stairway leads down into the bunker, with the portraits of the wartime opponents on opposite sides. So the portrait of the then Nigerian Head of State, General Yakubu Gowon, hangs directly opposite that of Biafran leader, Colonel Chukwuemeka Ojukwu. They are followed by photographs of their lieutenants and pictures of the cruelties of the civil war.

At the bottom of the staircase to the left is a small room, the Announcer’s Room of the radio station Voice of Biafra. Ojukwu repeatedly came to this place to make his announcements over the radio. This was a H.F.-10B gates short waves transmitter which is still in workling condition. But today it is located on the surface at a small building. The Radio Biafra Transmitter was recovered from Enugu, the former capital of Biafra and brought to .

The museum has a huge lawn which is a sort of open air museum for war machinery, including canons, tanks, various vehicles and even a ship. And there are a few aircraft hangars with fighter planes. And there is a museum building which contains collections of historic photographs and documents, historic weapons, and one of military uniforms. It was used in the secession enclave for internal service (whatever that means) during the Nigeria Civil War.

We have given open hours and fees, but they seem to be rather volatile. Especially the fees seem to be quite individual and a matter of haggling. There is electric light in the bunker, but if you buy the normal entrance ticket it is not turned on. They tell you, you have to pay a much higher fee when they turn on the generator. Obviously bunkers are equipped with generators, but today they are connected to the grid, if they are museums. We guess the guys at the ticket office found a great way to scam visitors. If you do not want to confront them you could haggle. Another pont is the photography. There seems to be security personell at the gate which forces you to leave the bag at the entrance, including cameras and smartphones. So it’s not possible to take pictures inside. The explanation for this are "insecure times", which actually only explains that they check the bags, not that they keep them while you are in. We guess if you pay a security fee (bribe) you might be allowed to take your camera inside. And finally, we read different reports about guided tours. They are quite different and seem to depend on various things. We guess the looks of the female visitors is one decision criterion.