Who Killed Sir Ahmadu Bello?

There is this trending propaganda by some groups trying to twist history by asserting that Northern Emirs killed Sir Ahmadu Bello, the Sardauna of Sokoto. They even created a #FakeNews headline on a Newswatch front cover purporting to say that.

Newswatch Magazine never reported anything of that sort.

The fact remains that Major Chukwuma Kaduna Nzeogwu killed Sir Ahmadu Bello in the wee hours of January 15, 1966. Major Nzeogwu admitted to killing Sir Ahmadu Bello himself during a BBC interview, which I re-released yesterday.

But for that propaganda, I would not have re-released the interview. And as long as those persons do not repeat their lies, I will not republish it.

How I Killed Sardauna Ahmadu Bello-Nzeogwu

Major Chukwuma Nzeogwu killed Sir Ahmadu Bello and his first wife, Hafsatu, who stood between Nzeogwu and her husband. He also killed some members of Sir Ahmadu Bello’s household and one of his own men, Sergeant Daramola Oyegoke, who refused to kill innocent civilians.

Simultaneously, Major Timothy Onwuatuegwu killed Brigadier Samuel Ademulegun and his eight month pregnant wife, Latifah Ademulegun, who stood in front of him, thinking that Onwuatuegwu would not shoot a pregnant woman.

I have also posted video evidence by Solape Ademulegun, Brigadier Ademulegun’s daughter, who was an eyewitness to the event of that day when her parents were killed right before her eyes at the age of six.

On the same day, Major Chris Anuforo, who was the most bloodthirsty of the mutineers, killed the Minister of Finance, Chief Festus Okotie-Eboh, and Lt. Colonels Kur Mohammed and Arthur Unegbe. When Major Humphrey Chukwuka refused to kill Lt. Colonel Pam, who had been responsible for his rapid rise in the army, Anuforo got angry and killed him.

Major Emmanuel Ifeajuna was the coup leader. He personally killed the Prime Minister, Sir Abubakar Tafawa-Balewa, probably the cleanest and most upright politician in Nigeria’s history. He also killed his boss, Zakariya Maimalari.

The thing about the death of Brigadier Zakariya Maimalari was that he had escaped from Major Okafor, who Ifeajuna had sent to kill him. He was barely 100 meters to safety when he saw Ifeajuna’s car.

He was Ifeajuna’s direct boss and was like a father to him, so he never believed that Ifeajuna was one of the plotters. As his car approached, he stopped Ifeajuna, who greeted him with a hail of bullets, killing him on the spot.

Many Nigerians do not realise that that scene in Scarface, where Tony Montana welcomed his would be assassins with a salvo from his sub-machine gun, is likely stolen, without credit, from the true story of how Samuel Ladoke Akintola met his death.

Akintola was the bravest politician of the First Republic. While other politicians killed by Majors Ifeajuna, Nzeogwu, Anuforo, Onwuatuegwu, and Okafor begged for their lives, with some even crying, not so Akintola.

When Captain Emmanuel Nwobosi ordered him to come out, he waited for him and his men to approach his door and opened fire on them with his SMG. It was actually Captain Emmanuel Nwobosi and his men who ran for cover.

This continued until Akintola ran out of ammunition, whereupon, seizing the opportunity. Nwobosi and his men came out of hiding and wasted him. But for the fact that he ran out of ammo, he may not have died.

Captain Nwobosi would have been able to deny his part in the killing, as Major Ifeajuna did, but for the fact Chief Akintola’s neighbour, Justice Kayode Eso, was home and witnessed the events.

It is not that I want to report old wounds, but when a group of people try to revise history and whitewash specific historical figures, while demonising innocent persons, I, as a historian, have a duty to speak.

Reno Omokri

TableShaker. Ruffler of the Feathers of Obidents. #1 Bestselling author of Facts Versus Fiction: The True Story of the Jonathan Years. Hodophile. Hollywood Magazine Humanitarian of the Year, 2019. Business Insider Influencer of the Year 2022.