Jan 1966 Coup: Ironsi detained me over
Balewa’s, Okotie-Eboh’s decomposing bodies
— Ex-police chief
on december 22, 2013 at 2:00 am in interview
By Olalekan Bilesanmi
Alhaji Ahmed Ibrahim Babankowa, in his late
‘70s, was a police commissioner. In this
interview, Babankowa recounts how he led an
operation during the January 1966 coup to
discover the bodies of the Prime Minister, Sir
Tafawa Balewa, his Finance Minister, Chief
Okotie Eboh, and other members of the federal
cabinet who the coup makers had taken to the
outskirts of Sango-Otta, then in Western
Region but now in Ogun State, and shot dead.
He also shares his thoughts on some national
issues.
How has it been since more than 30 years
back that you retired?
Quite interesting. I have seen a lot of things
which I never thought could happen but are
happening. Some of them come as a surprise
and sometimes shocking. It is really amazing
how things are going on in this country.
What role did you play during the 1966 coup
and where were you at that time?
I am not a coupist and I didn’t play any role
other than my normal police role. However I
can tell you what happened. It was not only
the night of the coup but it continued for
about three days later when we discovered the
bodies of the prime minister and some of his
cabinet members. First of all, I was at Sango-
Otta during the coup where I had been
transferred. I was initially at Mubi. They called
it Southern Province which is the present
Adamawa State. It used to be called Gongola
State. I was drafted to the Western Region
during the Operation Wetie crisis. I was
drafted from Mubi to Kaduna and then to take
riot unit to Ibadan. On my arrival at Ibadan,
my late commander, Peter Pam, told me that
Akure, Ondo and Owo were burning and I was
moved to Akre, then to Owo and then Arigidi,
a border town between the West and the
North. While I was there, Shomolu in Lagos
was burning. I then deployed to Shomolu, and,
suddenly, they said Agege to Abeokuta was
burning as they were doing Oro (cult). Then I
was later moved to Sango- Otta where I was
on the fateful night of the coup. I was
manning a road block which was primarily to
check the menace of the Operation Wetie.
Suddenly we saw a convoy of military trucks
and cars. It was in night, it was when they
moved closer that we realised that army
officers were in the convoy. We were happy
and comfortable seeing them because our
assumption was that they were also helping
out in fighting the crisis, and we allowed them
to pass and they moved on to Abeokuta which
was the direction they were headed not
knowing that in that convoy were the Prime
Minister, Tafawa Balewa, the Minister of
Finance, Okotie Eboh, Abogu and Kuru
Muhammed. Not more than half an hour later,
the convoy returned and headed for Lagos. We
didn’t take any notice of anything not knowing
that these leaders were actually taken into the
bush and shot dead, six of them. It was the
next morning we heard that there was a coup;
and that Tafawa Balewa and co were killed.
*Babankowa
Now the Western Region crisis was no longer
an issue because of the coup. Few days later,
I had cold and had to go to hospital for
treatment. I understand a bit of Yoruba
language, it was in the hospital at Sango -
Otta that I was listening to some patients
talking about some odour of some dead
bodies in their vicinity. They were complaining
about the odour. Meanwhile the nation was
already talking about the missing bodies of
these leaders. So, when I got to the office, I
divided my men into groups, while some went
to the particular place where the patients in
the hospital talked about, others went the
other way. Lo and behold, the bodies of these
leaders were there on the ground, already
decomposing. Tafawa Balewa’s body was in
his white attire, his cap on the floor and his
rosary near the cap and maggots had started
coming out of it. That was the most terrible
sight I have ever seen in my life. So I reported
the matter to the authorities. It was Kam
Salem that was around at that time because
Louis Edet was on leave. Kam Salem was the
acting IG. Knowing how difficult it could be to
get the IG, I decided to go to Ikeja Police
Station, I knew the officer in charge, Alhaji
Kafaru Tinubu. I told him I wanted to see the
IG, and I told him the reason. So we called the
IG in Tinubu’s office and he said I should
come right down to the Force Headquarters in
Lagos immediately. On getting there, Ironsi
had abandoned his barracks and took refuge
at the police headquarters. He was operating
from the police headquarters.
Why would he leave the barracks that is more
fortified for the police headquarters?
I will tell you. When there is a coup, everybody
is suspecting his colleagues. He already had
loyal troops around the police headquarters
protecting him. Tanks were everywhere. He
probably thought he was safer with the police
and loyal troops protecting the place than
staying in the barracks where he would not
know who was for him or who was against
him. On my arrival, I was taken straight to the
office of the IG where he was sitting with Ironsi
on the same table in the conference room. I
was marched to the place bare footed and
without cap or belt, this was after my pistol
had been taken away from me. I can
understand why. The first question came from
Ironsi. ‘You said you saw the dead body of the
prime minister?’ I said, ‘Yes, I did sir’. He was
talking to me in Hausa. He spoke fluent
Hausa. He was just like Odumegwu Ojukwu’s
father who also spoke fluent Hausa. He then
asked how I knew it was Tafawa Balewa and I
told him that I knew him very well because I
was security officer to the late Sardauna. We
normally came to Lagos to see Tafawa Balewa
and he knew us as security officers of
Sardauna. He then ordered that I should be
arrested and detained in the naval base,
Apapa. Kam Salem pleaded that I should be
detained in our own cell and anytime I was
needed, he would produce me.
I was then marched out of the room and later I
was marched in again before Ironsi now said
Kam Salem could detain me and I was taken
to Yaba Police Station. I was there till 1.30
am the following day. And suddenly I was
hearing a voice saying ‘where is this Ibrahim
Ahmed?’ And so I was brought out. I saw
Maitama Sule, Madawaki of Bauchi whom I
knew very well in Tafawa Balewa’s house, and
Balewa’s ADC, immediately I knew they
wanted me to take them to the site. When we
got out, I saw trucks and ambulances and so I
was asked to lead the way to Sango- Otta.
This was in the night. Could you believe that
my policemen who I asked to guard the place
were still there when we got there? That is the
difference between the police of that time and
those of now. These were officers that didn’t
eat from the previous day till the following
night that we got there. If it were these days,
they would have left there .Which police would
you leave with a decomposed body for 24
hours now? We packed the bodies. Six of us
flew Tafawa Balewa’s body to Bauchi: Myself,
Kam Salem, Madawaki Bauchi, Mataima Sule,
William Garuba, ADC to IG, Tapgum, Tafawa
Balewa’s ADC, in a small aircraft while the
Balewa family members flew in a bigger
aircraft. We arrived Bauchi on Sallah day.
People were coming out of the prayer ground
and running down to the airport to welcome
the prime minister but, unknowingly to them,
we were bringing the dead body of Balewa.
From there, Kam Salem said I should move my
unit back to Kaduna and then to Mubi and
then start my annual leave.
It is alleged that the police are partisan
compared to the one you operated in, in your
days. Do you agree?
This is an area I know very well. The
policeman is like the district officer of those
days. But the police are now being controlled
by whoever is in power. In my days, the police
was independent. Their allegiance was to the
nation, not individuals as we now see these
days. In those days, whoever was in power
could not control the police as he or she
wished. It was run according to rules and
regulations. What you find now is a police
which are more or less in disguise as state
police. The one in Rivers State is completely a
different one. But you find in some other states
that whoever is the governor controls the
police.
Thought it is the Federal Government through
the police Inspector General of Police that
controls the police.
You are right but don’t forget that the
governors have their own line of
communication with the IG such that whatever
the governor wants, once he contacts the IG,
the IG passes the information to the
commissioner and his biddings are carried
out. The police, unlike before, are not
structurally based but controlled by
individuals instead of being institutional.
However, the problems with our police, in my
opinion, started in 1983 when there was a
military coup that ousted the President Shehu
Shagari administration. Sunday Adewusi was
the IG; I was still in the force at that time. The
army realised that the police was getting too
powerful and they did not want that because
they wanted to rule without hindrance. So they
tried to render it ineffective. It was starved of
funds, salaries were poor; even the allowances
were not forthcoming, arms and ammunitions
including logistics were not forth coming, that
was when the police began its descent and, up
till now, nobody is willing to do anything
about it. Don’t ask me if we are ripe for state
police because my answer would be no. Until
there is justice, sincerity and fair-play, I will
never subscribe to state police. We cannot
handle state police now.

source: http://www.vanguardngr.com/2013/12/jan-1966-coup-ironsi-detained-balewas-okotie-ebohs-decomposing-bodies-ex-police-chief/

Oh,really?

very interesting piece

...a nice story!

Drniyi4u: ...a nice story!

Yeah