How close associates betrayed, overthrew me

Nigeria’s former military Head of State, Yakubu Gowon, has revealed how officers he trusted and relied upon to transform the country eventually turned against him and overthrew his government in July 1975.

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Mr Gowon, who ruled Nigeria between 1966 and 1975, said he believed the officers around him shared the vision and policies of his administration because of their closeness to him. He, however, later discovered that some of them were part of the plot that removed him from office.

The former head of state was overthrown on 29 July 1975 while attending the 12th summit of the Organisation of African Unity (OAU) in Kampala, Uganda.

He was seated at the conference when the then Uganda’s leader, Idi Amin, approached him with a Reuters dispatch announcing that his government had been toppled.

The development abruptly ended his time in office and was followed by his retirement from the Nigerian Army by the new military junta.

How he was betrayed

In his memoir, “My Life of Duty and Allegiance”, Mr Gowon narrated how his Chief Security Officer and head of the Special Branch, M.D. Yusuf, warned him that some officers were planning a coup ahead of the OAU summit.

According to him, Mr Yusuf identified two officers, Joseph Garba, then Commander of the Federal Guards Unit, and Anthony Ochefu, then Provost Marshal of the Nigerian Military Police, as key figures in the alleged conspiracy.

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Mr Gowon said the report unsettled him because both men were not only central to national security but were also people he trusted deeply.

“Not only did I intimately know both men, but I had also grown to like and trust them over the years. Coincidentally, both were Christians and from my original home state, Benue Plateau,” he recounted in the book.

The former head of state said he summoned both officers after receiving the intelligence report. While Mr Garba honoured the invitation, Mr Ochefu repeatedly failed to appear despite several requests.

“Garba answered my summons, but Ochefu conveniently made himself unavailable. He still did not show up after my Aide-de-Camp, Ltd. Col Williams Walbe (1943-2011), personally delivered my instructions to him to appear.”

Mr Gowon said Mr Ochefu’s refusal heightened his suspicion that the coup plot might indeed be real, although he decided to revisit the issue after returning from Kampala, unaware he would never return as head of state.

“His uncharteristic, yet deliberate act of gross disloyalty made me sense the plot might be true. I made a note to revisit the issue on my return from Kampala,“ he said.

He added that Mr Garba’s appointment as head of the Brigade of Guards was partly influenced by family ties and the confidence he had in him.

“As commander of the Federal Guards, which is the elite entrusted with the responsibility of protecting the person of the Head of State, Garba was supposed to have unquestionable loyalty. Apart from his proven professional ability, he was appointed head of the Brigade of Guards because of his filial relationship with my mother’s family in Benue Plateau State.

“This step was taken in the belief that it would add an extra layer of confidence in my emergence as Head of State. Incidentally, his aging father who was the Chief of Langtang made me to further realise how close Garba and I were when I paid him a condolence visit in 2002 after Joseph’s funeral,” he added.

Mr Gowon further recalled confronting Mr Garba over the allegations, but said the officer vehemently denied involvement in any coup plot.

“In quick succession, he vehemently denied awareness of any plan to topple me and swore by heaven and earth to deny the existence and his membership of any group that may have been formed for that purpose. But, I made him realise that if, at the end of the day, there was any truth in the rumour of his involvement in any plan against me, he would be answerable to God and his conscience.”

Despite the warnings, Mr Gowon said he still proceeded to Uganda because he had already committed to attending the summit.

He travelled aboard a Nigeria Airways Boeing 737 on 27 July 1975 but remained uneasy after arriving in Uganda. As a result, he instructed his Aide-de-Camp, Mr Walbe, to return to Lagos to monitor developments and provide a proper situation report.

However, Mr Walbe’s return was delayed after the aircraft’s co-pilot reportedly fell ill.

Mr Gowon said he eventually received confirmation of the coup on the third day of the summit, 29 July 1975. The coup led to the emergence of Murtala Muhammed as head of state and Olusegun Obasanjo as chief of staff, Supreme Headquarters.

READ ALSO: BOOK REVIEW: Inside Yakubu Gowons My Life of Duty and Allegiance, By Mathew Hassan Kukah

Was it Garba?

The former Nigerian leader said that even after hearing the news of his overthrow, he initially struggled to believe that Mr Garba was involved.

He explained that early media reports mentioned a certain “Colonel Darwa” as the officer who announced the coup, a name he believed might have been a mispronunciation or misspelling of “Garba.”

“I did not recognise the garbled name on the Reuter’s dispatch. Early media reports mentioned a certain ‘Colonel Darwa ‘ as the officer who made the dawn broadcast of the coup. ‘Darwa ‘ certainly sounded and read like a mispronounced or misspelt ‘Garba’. Still, I was not inclined to believing that he, of all people, would betray me,” he narrated.

Mr Gowon said he initially suspected that Mr Garba may have been pressured or manipulated into joining the coup plot.

“My concern for Garba was based on fears that the planners of the coup may have co-opted him into their scheme against his better judgement. I felt they might have convinced or threatened him into believing he did not gain anything from his long association with me and, as such, was better off being in their camp, failing which he could be shot if need be.”