By Ayodele Oni
General Yakubu Gowon, Nigeria’s former head of state, has revealed that the mutiny, which claimed the life of military head of state General J.T.U. Ironsi, during the counter-coup of July 1966, was planned in Abeokuta, Ogun state.
Gowon also recounted how he tried to save the life of Ironsi, who was his boss from the mutineers.
The former Head of State recollected the events in his autobiography with the title My Life of Duty and Allegiance, which was launched in Abuja Tuesday.
Ironsi was assassinated during a counter-coup on July 29, 1966, in Ibadan. He had seized power during the ensuing chaos after the January 15, 1966, military coup.
Ironsi ruled from January 16 until his assassination. He was killed alongside his host and the first military governor of the former Western Region, Col. Adekunle Fajuyi.
Recalling the events of Friday, July 29, 1966, Gowon said he received a phone call at about midnight from Major Martin Adamu, who told him that a mutiny had broken out in Abeokuta.
The mutiny, he said, was triggered by rumours of the disarming of Northern commanding officers and soldiers in the barracks by the Commanding Officer, Col. Gabriel Okonweze.
He said, “My immediate worry was that General Ironsi’s life might be in danger if I did not make an effort to reach him as quickly as possible to give him a situation report.”
Gowon noted that Ironsi’s original itinerary was to return to Lagos by road from Ibadan through Sagamu-Ikorodu or Ibadan-Abeokuta.
“I reckoned that if a mutiny had broken out in Abeokuta, it would be unsafe for him to travel via the city, and Ikorodu would have been blocked by the mutineers. In the end, I felt it might be safer for him to fly from Ibadan to Lagos.
“On impulse, I called the airport at Ikeja to instruct Major Paul Dickson, who oversaw the airport, to send a helicopter to Ibadan to evacuate the Supreme Commander. At once, he responded, “Yes, Sir.”
The former head of state, however, noted that Major Dickson had no intention of carrying out the instruction because he was a member of the group that planned the uprising.
“I therefore called the Government House, Ibadan, intending to give General Ironsi the sitrep, advise him to avoid Abeokuta, and intimate him of the contingency plan I had made to keep him safe.
But I did not realise that by this time the mutineers had closed in on Government House.”
He added that he was surprised when the operator passed the call to Major Theophilus Danjuma, who told him he was Ironsi’s escort for the tour that was ending in Ibadan.
“I requested that he pass the call to the Supreme Commander, but he told me it would not be possible then, as Ironsi had been placed under close arrest by some officers.
“The presence of so many hot-headed young officers from the North at the scene momentarily unsettled me because they felt hurt by the events of January 15, 1966 and were, therefore, capable of doing anything,” he recalled.
He stated that while it would be pointless to issue a desist order, he instructed Danjuma to handle the situation with extreme caution to prevent needless bloodshed.
“Not willing to take chances, I instructed him to ensure that Ironsi was kept safe.”
Gowon said he suggested to Danjuma that Ironsi should be moved to Bida or somewhere close to Ilorin, which he considered relatively safe.
“I kept my phone line open after the brief discussion with Danjuma in the hope that there would be follow-up calls from him.
“Unknown to me, however, as I would later learn, the Supreme Commander and his host governor, Col. Adekunle Fajuyi, had already been taken away in a Land Rover by their abductors without waiting for Danjuma to give them any last instructions,” the former head of state said.
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