Musa Gowon was sentenced to 40 years in
prison for drug-related offences while he was
part of a Colombian cartel.


The son of former Nigerian military head of state
Yakubu Gowon is due to return to Nigeria after
spending 22 years in a US prison after being
convicted on drug-related charges. It is believed
Musa Gowon was released from the Taft
Correctional Facility Bakersfield, California, after US President Barack Obama granted him pardon
earlier in November. The Igbo Mandate Congress (IMC)- which
advocates for the Igbo ethnic group in Nigeria -
has said it was arranging a welcome ceremony.
The date of Gowon's arrival has not yet been
disclosed. He is currently being held at a
deportation centre in the US.

Who is Musa Gowon?

According to the IMC, Gowon was born in 1969
after his father had started a relationship with an
Igbo woman, late Edith Ike-Okongwu. The relationship allegedly ended during the
Nigerian civil war (1967-1970) - also known as
the Biafran war - as Okongwu disagreed with
Yakubu Gowon - then head of state - over the
role of the Nigerian army in the war. The army
has been accused of deliberately bombing Biafran civilians and imposing a blockade that
resulted in the death of hundreds of thousands
of civilians due to lack of food and medicine.

After the war, Okongwu emigrated with her son
to the US. She later returned to Nigeria, while
Musa remained in the US where he joined a
Colombian drug cartel. He was arrested and
sentenced to 40 years in jail in 1992, at the age of
23. Musa was said to have lived a flamboyant lifestyle until he was arrested on November 18,
1992 aged 23, prosecuted and given 40-year jail
sentence the following year. U.S. President Obama last month granted him
state pardon after he had spent 22 years in
prison. He is now in the custody of U.S.
Immigration booked for deportation to Nigeria
anytime from now IMC thanked Obama for the pardon: "Igbo
Mandate Congress also expresses gratitude to
the United States President Barrack Obama for the
pardon granted Musa Ngonadi Gowon in the
spirit of reconciliation and demand good
treatment of this man born under the contradictions of love, hate and an unnecessary
civil war."

Gowon created a Facebook account in 2013
where he routinely wrote messages thanking
family and friends for his support. in March 2015,
he wrote: "To all my family and friends. I recently
read all your lovely birthday messages to me, and
I was overjoyed at the beautiful and kind words of encouragement sent to me. I hear you all and
unfortunately I can't respond directly to
everyone... But in due time we shall all see again,
by the grace of God. Thank you once more for
the love and support and I hold you all in a
special part of my heart. God bless." After being overthrown in 1975, Gowon's father
moved to the UK, where he obtained a PhD at
Warwick University in 1983. He returned to
Nigeria that same year after being pardoned by
the then president Shehu Shagari for his alleged
role in the 1976 coup d'etat in Nigeria. Gowon's father still lives in the UK.


Lalasticlala.


www.ibtimes.co.uk/musa-gowon-son-former-ruler-yakubu-gowon-return-nigeria-after-22-years-us-prison-1530797

Wat? I dnt think the Gowon I know is aware of any body called "Musa Ngonadi Gowon"

Welcome back to Nigeria. Life starts over again for you. Maybe you will have to contest for LG chairman first courtesy of your father's connection.

The blood of the biafrans he killed during the war gave gowon a big blow....