Between the year 1830 and 1954, France governed and ruled Algeria with impunity and high handedness. The French general who led the invasion of Algeria charged the French army to massacre and annihilate any Arab or Berber in Algeria that dare resist or challenge the French hegemony. Algeria was destroyed and it's intellectuals sent into exile or hanged.
The occupying French army encouraged the migration of poor and middle class white French citizens to Algeria to settle down in other to make Algeria a permanent estate of France. This settlers were called "colons". They were given special privilege and status in Algeria and they became overlords and masters over the indigenous Algerian population.
The occupying French army used another strategy which was to select few Arabs and allow them to go to French schools in order to create "anglicized" Arabs who will think and behave like French people and they will finally use this class of people against the indigenous Arabs as a means of divide and rule. Many indigenous Algerian Muslims were recruited into the French army as auxillary forces and given a few privilege in order to make them feel "French". They were given opportunity to become part of the privileged class.
In the year 1954, Algerian freedom fighters and nationalist declared war on France and declared that all French settlers must leave Algeria. The French government under De Gaulle responded with brute Force to kill and destroy any call for the freedom of Algerians. The French army suffered many casualties because the Algerian freedom fighters were using guerilla tactics to fight the French army. The French army decided to use the anglicized Arabs which were later called "Harkis" against fellow Arabs who were fighting for the Independence of their motherland.
The "Harkis" were Arabs and they were Muslims but they preferred colonisation and french way of life rather than freedom. They killed, fought and maimed their fellow Algerian brothers and sisters for the glory of France so that France will continue to pillage and rule them in their Homeland. They served as informants for the French government and millions of Algerians died.
Fortunately, France lost the war and the Harkis didn't know where to go. They were afraid that the victorious algerian Nationalist army will attack them for the atrocities they performed against fellow Algerians. Their fear came to pass because thousands of Harki soldiers were massacred in vengeance for the betrayal of their own people.
To make matters worse, while the French government were evacuating French citizens they refused to grant asylum to the Harkis who fought for France against their own people. Those who managed to escape to France were treated as third class citizens and outcasts in France by the French people.
Lesson of the story- If Biafra is declared today there will still be some Igbos that will kill fellow Igbos on behalf of the Fulani army in order to destroy the Biafran struggle. Likewise, there will also be some treacherous Yorubas that will kill fellow Yorubas for the purpose of perpuating fulani hegemony if Oduduwa republic is declared.
All freedom fighters must be ruthless to internal saboteurs.
Olodumare bless the Yoruba nation. Aare Kurunmi Kakanfo
