1966 coup: IBB has vindicated Gen. Collins R. U Ihekire, says activist Paul

Human rights activist and author, Comrade Paul Ikechukwu Njoku, has detailed how the former Force Commander, AMIS, Darfur-Sudan and former Commander Training and Doctrine Command Nigeria Army, Major General Collins Remy Ugo Ihekire (Rtd), was vindicated by the revelation made by the autobiography of the former military head of state, General Ibrahim Badamosi Babangida, concerning the 1966 military coup which was widely termed as “Igbo Coup”.

In a statement obtained by News Band, Njoku stated that General Ihekire, who was the former Executive Secretary of Niger Basin Authority-a Sub Continental Development Organization made up of nine countries with headquarters in Niamey, Republic of Niger, repeatedly lamented that Igbo officers were not behind the 1966 coup.

In his statement, he said, “I want to use this opportunity to tell Nigerians and the world that Major General Collins Remy Ugo Ihekire (Rtd) has been utterly vindicated by the revelation of the autobiography of General Ibrahim Babangida.

“I recall in 2017 when some tribal bigots across different fora in Nigeria and diaspora were preaching that the 1966 coup was orchestrated and sponsored by Ndigbo. General Ihekire, who was then the spokesman for the South East in the Southern and Middle Belt Leaders Forum submitted in WhatsApp Core Federalists’ Forum, that such narrative is full of falsehood driven by ethnic hatred and mischief by those who intended to change the truth of history to achieve economic and political marginalization of Ndigbo.

“He repeatedly maintained that it is very misleading and misguiding to believe that originators and sponsors of the 1966 coup were the Igbo. In one of General Ihekire’s remarks, he said, “For the fact that the then-Head of State, Major General Aguiyi Ironsi, and top Igbo politicians were not killed made many twist the entire events of the time out of context to blame Ndigbo as an ethnic group. He maintained that the coup was defeated by Gen Ironsi, Colonels Ojukwu and Obienu and others igbo officers.

“He asked, “How would Igbo officers fight fellow Igbo officers in an igbo coup?” He also recalled how then Lt Col Ojukwu, Commander 5th Battalion moved the then Emir of Kano to 5th Battalion Barracks for safety and protected him from harm till he was appointed Military Governor of then Eastern Region. He noted that the coup which was mostly in response to violent crisis that erupted in the Western Region at that time was as a result of the struggle for political control of the Western Region between the ruling Northern People’s Congress and the Western Action Group. On the contrary, the Eastern Region didn’t have any political crisis or political violence, yet people wanted Igbo politicians killed as if it was by quota system. Igbo military officers who fought to prevent the coup were brutally murdered in cold blood in the process?”.

Recall that in a historic revelation, 59 years after the 1966 coup, former military leader, General Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida, in his autobiography absolved the Igbo ethnic group from any blame of the events that led to the military mutiny that ousted then civilian administration led by Prime Minister Tafawa Balewa.

Apart from Balewa, others killed by the coupists include then-Premier of Northern Region, Alhaji Ahmadu Bello; then-Premier of Western Region, Chief Ladoke Akintola and a few others

Contrary to the narratives linking the coup to Igbo ethnic sentiment, IBB, in his book: ‘A Journey In Service’, clarified that the coup was not driven by the Igbo.

He highlighted the role of Major John Obienu, an Igbo officer, who played a key role in crushing the coup, revealing that many senior Igbo officers were also tragically killed during the uprising

The book also highlighted the broader involvement of various ethnic groups, notably the Yoruba, many of whom participated in the mutiny.

The former leader confirmed that the original intention of the coup plotters was to release political figure Obafemi Awolowo from detention and install him as the president.

Excerpts from the book reads, “It was a terrible time for the Nigerian military. As I have said elsewhere, as a young officer who saw all of this from a distance, probably, ethnic sentiments did not drive the original objective of the coup plotters.

“For instance, the head of the plotters, Major Kaduna Nzeogwu, was only ‘Igbo’ in name. Born and raised in Kaduna, his immigrant parents were from Okpanam in today’s Delta State, which in 1966 was in the old mid-western region. Nzeogwu spoke fluent Hausa and was as ‘Hausa’ as any! He and his original team probably thought that even if naively that they could turn things around for the better in the country.

“That said, it was heinously callous for Nzeogwu to have murdered Sir Ahmadu Bello and his wife, Hafsatu, because not only were they eminently adored by many but also because they were said not to have put up a fight. From that moment, the putsch was infiltrated by ‘outsiders’ to its supposed original intention and it took on an unmistakably ethnic colouration, compounded by the fact that there were no related coup activities in the Eastern region.

“It should, however, be borne in mind that some senior officers of Igbo extraction were also victims of the January coup. For instance, my erstwhile Commander at the Reconnaissance Squadron in Kaduna, Lt-Col. Arthur Chinyelu Unegbe, was brutally gunned down by his own ‘brother,’ Major Chris Anuforo, in the presence of his pregnant wife, at his 7 Point Road residence in Apapa, for merely being ‘a threat to the revolution’. As a disciplined and strict officer who as the Quartermaster-General of the Army, was also in charge of ammunition, weapons, equipment, vehicles, and other vital items for the Army, the coup plotters feared that he might not cooperate with them.

“It should also be remembered that some non-Igbo officers, like Major Adewale Ademoyega, Captain Ganiyu Adeleke, Lts Fola Oyewole, and Olafimihan, took part in the failed coup. Another officer of Igbo extraction, Major John Obienu, crushed the coup.

“Those who argue that the original intention of the coup plotters was anything but ethnic refer to the fact that the initial purpose of the plotters was to release Chief Obafemi Awolowo ‘from prison immediately after the coup and make him the executive provisional President of Nigeria.”

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