1. Like Nnamdi Azikiwe, Patrice Lumumba was the independence leader & the first Prime Minister of the DRC. He was a pan-Africanist, an African nationalist, & the casualty of the US-Soviet Cold War. He was first deposed by Mobutu Sese Seko in 1960, with support from US & Belgium.

2. Then assassinated in 1961 by a firing squad, under the command of Tshombe Katagan regime. A mutiny broke out in the army shortly after Congolese Independence. Lumunba had requested aid from US & Belgium, to stop the “Katangan secessionists” that had risen from the mutiny.

3. Both US & Belgium refused, prompting Lumumba to turn to an unlikely foe - The Soviets.

This provoked the United States, & Belgium (US ally). The Katangan secessionists carried on with support from Anglo-Belgian mining company, & a large contingent of Belgian military chiefs.

4. Katangan army was quickly organized & trained by Belgium. Mercenaries of various nationalities were equally engaged. In the end, the DRC was engulfed in a conflict - the CONGOLESE CRISIS as we know it today. It is arguably an exact replica of the Biafran Genocide in Nigeria.

5. Belgium officially apologized for its role in Lumumba’s assassination in 2002. Mobutu went on to seize power for himself in a second coup in 1965. He received massive military, diplomatic & economic support from the US, France & Belgium.