THE JULY REMATCH – THE NORTH REVENGE TO THE IGBO COUP 08

THE JULY REMATCH – THE NORTH REVENGE TO THE IGBO COUP 08

THE JULY REMATCH – THE NORTH REVENGE TO THE IGBO COUP 08

In that garrison, the earth drank deeply of innocent blood, and the cries of the fallen rose to the heavens like smoke from a sacrificial fire. Thus, the garrison, once a place of camaraderie, became a graveyard, where bonds of brotherhood were severed by the blade of ethnic hatred, and the soil of Ibadan bore witness to a tragedy that would forever stain its storied history.

LAGOS IN THE EYE OF THE STORM: SHADOWS OVER A FRACTURED NATION

In Lagos, the winds of fate shifted swiftly, and within a single day and night, the Northern soldiers tightened their grip on the federal guards, the airport, and the 2nd Battalion. Brigadier Babafemi Ogundipe, the Chief of Staff and de facto second-in-command of the Nigerian army, sought to stem the tide of rebellion.

Like a farmer sending green shoots to face the wildfires, he dispatched a platoon from the Lagos Garrison Organisation to reclaim the airport. But these troops, untested in the art of war, were like hunters without arrows.

The Northern soldiers, armed to the teeth and waiting like leopards in ambush, struck with precision on Ikorodu Road. Ogundipe’s men, outgunned and outmaneuvered, fell in droves, their mission consumed by the fire of well-laid traps.

Further attempts to reinforce the effort met with betrayal and cowardice. Some soldiers refused outright, their hearts gripped by fear, while others who set out merely drove aimlessly through Lagos, returning to base without firing a single shot. The proverb says, “The tortoise who hides in his shell fears no harm, but also claims no glory.” Such was the fate of Ogundipe’s reinforcements.

Meanwhile, Lt. Col. Murtala Mohammed, with the cunning of a hunter stalking his prey, ordered his men to march upon the barracks of the Lagos Garrison Organisation to extinguish any embers of resistance.

Upon arrival, the Northern troops rounded up Igbo soldiers like lambs gathered for slaughter, their fates sealed by the blade of vengeance. Shots rang out, echoing through the barracks as lives were extinguished, leaving silence to mourn the fallen.

Far to the north, at the 1st Brigade in Kaduna, leadership was absent when it was most needed. Lt. Col. Bassey, his deputy Lt. Col. Phillip Effiong, and Lt. Col. Imo of the Nigerian Defence Academy were all conspicuously missing. In their stead, Major Samuel Ogbemudia, the Brigade Major, took charge. Like a chief whose voice silences the marketplace, Ogbemudia ordered the surrender of all weapons within the unit, quelling potential chaos.

At the 3rd Battalion, Lt. Col. Okoro, the Igbo commander, placed his trust in dialogue, believing he could tame the storm with words. “A gentle tongue, they say, breaks the bone,” but Okoro’s trust proved misplaced. He addressed his troops, receiving promises of loyalty, but like water cupped in open palms, those assurances soon slipped away.

His Regimental Sergeant Major (RSM), a snake in the grass, lured him to the guardroom under false pretenses. There, Okoro was ambushed and shot dead by two Northern soldiers, one of whom was the infamous Lt. B.S. Dimka, a man destined to cast yet more shadows across Nigeria’s history. Dimka, emboldened by his act of treachery, later sought to kill Ogbemudia, but fate intervened, allowing Ogbemudia to escape.

The killing of Okoro sounded the drumbeats of further bloodshed. An alarm called the soldiers to parade, and Igbo troops were singled out like yams picked for harvest. They were herded into trucks, driven into the wilderness, and met their deaths at the hands of their comrades turned executioners.

Among the troops in the 3rd Battalion was a young Lieutenant named Sani Abacha, a figure whose cunning would later define him as one of Nigeria’s most notorious coup plotters.