Saturday, January 15, 1966. 2:10 am.
1, Kashim Ibrahim Road, Kaduna.
"Timothy, how did you get in here and what the devil do you think you are doing?"
Brigadier Samuel Ademulegun, Commanding Officer of the 1 Brigade Nigerian Army, Kaduna, asked bewilderedly as he saw Major Timothy Onwuatuegwu and five other soldiers pointing their submachine guns at him and his startled pregnant wife, Latifah, fondly called "Sisi Nurse".
They had gained access to his bedroom having passed through with little resistance from his guards commanded by Lance Corporal Lawrence Akuma and three sappers of the Nigerian Army Engineers.
Immediately after Nzeogwu dispatched Onwuatuegwu for his task, he got into a landrover with five of his men and headed for the Brigadier’s house. On arrival, they met three guards; two on guard and one patrolling the ground. As he saw Onwuatuegwu and his men, he challenged them but he was easily disarmed and kept under guard with some of the soldiers.
Ademulegun was a much disciplined officer and the second most senior officer after the GOC, Aguiyi-Ironsi. His army number was NA4. He had joined the army as a Private in 1942 and was commissioned as a Lieutenant in 1949 and was the first indigenous Aide-de-Camp to the British Governor-General John Macpherson in 1952. He rose in the military ladder and became a Brigadier.
As an officer of that magnitude, he was the most protected personality in the whole of Northern Nigeria. Even more protected than the Premier and Governor of the Northern Region. His guards, drawn from the 3rd Infantry Battalion in Kaduna, guarded not only the inside and outside of his compound but his main house too.
But the guards had been compromised and had led Onwuatuegwu straight into the Brigadier's bedroom where he was just in his white singlet and knickers.
"Get dressed and come with us, sir. Those are my instructions; to bring you to the headquarters," Onwuatuegwu said to the Brigadier.
“What nonsense is that? Are you all out of your minds?” Ademulegun asked bewilderedly.
“I’m only following orders, sir. Please, just do as I say.”
“Timothy, are you giving me orders?”
“As of this moment, yes sir. We are out of time,” Onwuatuegwu replied impatiently.
It sounded like gibberish to him. As the commander of that headquarters since 1964, he was the only one who could give such an order. But all the while, his wife Latifah, eight months pregnant, planted herself fearlessly between her husband and the pointed guns. In the top bedside drawer was a service pistol.
As a Brigadier, Ademulegun knew a pistol was no match for six soldiers armed with submachine guns. But he would rather fight and die gallantly than degrade the honour of his office by surrendering to subordinates.
“Alright then,” Ademulegun said resignedly and made to get up from his bed.
But as he made a quick dash for the drawer to pick up his pistol, Onwuatuegwu opened fire on the Brigadier, his wife, Latifah, and the unborn child.
Ademulegun's children, Kole and Solape who were in the next room, heard all the clash and were the first to see their lifeless parents surrounded by a pool of blood. Quickly, they dashed to the servants’ quarters where they stayed till morning.
Onwuatuegwu and his men then proceeded to their next mission blatantly as they left a sight too gory to behold, of his Brigadier and his pregnant wife. #HistoryVille #MondayMotivation
Source: A Carnage Before Dawn...
You can get the book here: Click here
You can also follow us on twitter here: https://buff.ly/35R49hs
c- My Story Articles
Comments
Post a Comment
Tell us what you think