45 Years After The Death Of One Of Nigeria's Biggest Terrorists
This month of February marks 45 years since the death of military dictator, Murtala Mohammed, one of the biggest terrorists to come out of Nigeria. Like many Nigerians, I grew up knowing who Murtala Mohammed was. His face was on the N20 Naira note, Aiports, Highways and major landmarks were named after him. It was only later in life that I would learn that Murtala Mohammed was a "dyed in wool terrorist", sociopath, mass-killer, ethnic bigot and accomplished coup plotter The question you will probably ask is, what did Murtala Mohammed do to deserve all these horrible names? How can a man that has so many landmarks are named after him be any of these things? The answer is that Nigeria has a culture of honouring and exalting evil men. The sins of Murtala Mohammed are numerous but I will mention three 1) He led the counter coup of July 1966 where he superviced the systematic slaughter of over 300 fellow Soldiers, mostly of Eastern extraction which included General Ironsi. Murtalas coup then took on ethnic and religious connotations and ultimately resulted in over 50,000 people, men, women and children being killed. 2) At the start of the war, Murtala Mohammed marched into Asaba. The few Asaba indigenes who still believed in 'one Nigeria' came out to welcome the Federal troops at cable point area of the city. Almost 1000 of them were gunned down on the spot by Murtala's men. 3) Retreating Biafran troops had blown up the Niger Bridge leading into Onitsha. Murtala was warned by Army headquarters that Biafran Soldiers had taken up defensive positions on the other side of the River. He was told to go up north where it was safe to cross the River. Murtala, believing in his false sense of bravado as a military tactician, disregarded direct orders and tried to cross the River into Onitsha 3 times. All met with huge catastrophe amongst his troops. Thousands of Nigerian soldiers were used as target practice by the Biafran Soldiers while others drowned in the River. Murtala then went up North and crossed the River then tried again to invade Onitsha. He led a contingent of 100 trucks full of troops, ammunition and supplies but was but was stopped at Abagana and completely destroyed. Murtala barely made it out of that battle with his life. After this episode, Murtala was recalled from the war front and sent on indefinite leave to London after leading thousands of men to their deaths due to his bad leadership. Murtala Mohammed was one of the worst Officers ever produced by the Nigerian Army. He was a homicidal maniac, accomplished coup plotter, genocidal killer, war criminal, military dictator, narcissist and one of the biggest terrorists to come out of Nigeria
