Military Uniform belonging to Col. PJ Okoli.

This khaki-colored uniform consists of a long-sleeve shirt with two front pockets and shoulder straps, and matching trousers. The shirt’s inner neck area features a name tag inscribed with "Olusanya & Bros" (the suspected manufacturer), "size 6," and Col. Okoli’s initials "PJ."

Originally, this uniform served as Col. Okoli’s Nigerian military attire. Following Biafra’s secession and the ensuing civil war, it was repurposed as his Biafran uniform due to a shortage of military garments.

A tear in the bottom left corner of the rear side of the shirt, caused by a bullet wound sustained during the civil war, is clearly visible. A patched-up tear from the same bullet wound can also be observed on the left corner of the rear side of the trousers. This damage occurred because his shirt was tucked into his trousers at the time he was shot, resulting in tears on both garments.

Also see: Col. Okoli's Bullet Scar

Col. John Okoli, born in Aguleri and a native of Ekwulobia, Anambra State, attended the Nigerian Military School, Zaria, for his secondary education. He later advanced his military training at the Military Academy in Harar, Ethiopia, completing a demanding three-year cadet course in 1965. Following his training, he was stationed in Abeokuta in December of the same year. However, amid the indiscriminate killing of Igbo officers in the Nigerian military, and escalating tensions following Nigeria’s second military coup in July 1966, Col. Okoli fled Abeokuta and eventually settled in Enugu, where he remained until the start of the Civil War.

During the war, Col. Okoli served as an infantry officer in the Biafran army and later transitioned to the artillery unit. In his service as an infantry officer, he sustained a bullet wound on his hip.

In his book My Personal Encounter with the July 1966 Coup at Abeokuta, Col. Okoli offers a personal account of his experience in military service.