Philip Asuquo Efiong was born in 1925 in Aba, present Abia State, Nigeria. He joined the army in 1945 and in 1956 was commissioned second lieutenant after receiving his officer training in the UK. He served in peacekeeping roles in Cameroon and the Congo before his appointment as first Nigerian Director of Ordnance Services of the Nigerian Army in 1963. After the first coup d’état of January 1966, he was posted to Supreme Headquarters as Principal Staff Officer and in May of the same year served as Acting Chief of Staff. In July he was posted to Kaduna as Acting Brigade Commander of the First Brigade but narrowly escaped back to Lagos following the countercoup of 29 Jul. In compliance with orders that officers return to their regions of origin, he returned to the East where, in 1967, the civil war broke out. As a Biafran officer, Major General Efiong served in various capacities as Chief of Logistics, Chief of Staff, Commandant of the Militia and Chief of General Staff. In January 1970 he called for an end to hostilities and voluntarily led a delegation of surrender to Lagos. He died on 6 November 2003.
