Former Military Head of State, Ibrahim Badamosi Babangida (IBB), has disclosed that it was an Igbo officer, Major John Obienu, who crushed the 1966 military coup.
General Babangida (rt) made the revelation on page 39 of his book ‘A Journey In Service.’
He stated that the ethnic colouration given to the coup as Igbo filtered in as a result of the killing of the then Sarduana of Sokoto, Sir Ahmadu Bello and his wife, Hafsatu.
Babangida noted that Kaduna Nzeogwu, who led the coup was more Hausa as any other Hausa than he was an Igbo. He further stated soldiers who were not of Igbo origin also joined and played active role in the coup.
It read: “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, even if naively, that they could turn things around for the better in the country.