Thirty young lads known as ‘Boys Company’ were recruited as pioneers of the Nigeria Military School Zaria in 1954; today, only two of them are still alive and one of them is Ibrahim Malgwi (IBM) Haruna, who left the Nigerian Army as a General 23 years after.

General IBM Haruna from Wuyaku in Garkida town in Gombi Local Government of Adamawa State later proceeded to the Regular Officers’ Special Training School in Teshi, Ghana, Mons Officers’ Cadet School, Aldershot in 1961 and upon graduation as a member of RMA 27 of the Royal Military Academy, Sandhurst United Kingdom. After, he enrolled at the Royal Army Ordnance Corps, Blackdown in UK to qualify as Ordnance Officer before returning home to take Commanding positions in the Nigerian Army.

During the period that you were a member of the Federal cabinet, there was the existence of a powerful bloc known as Kaduna mafia, is it true that the group existed and very influential?

Yes, I have heard about the existence of such group. I can’t deny it and I have read about it. All I can say is that I, General IBM Haruna, I am not a member of Kaduna mafia. To me, I see them as a political group within and outside power. I am not in the Supreme Military Council, so I don’t know what they do. I was a minister until I was retired from the Army.

Your records showed that at the time you left the Army, you were yet to reach the peak of your career as a soldier, what really happened?

Yes, I was not at my peak when I was asked to go, but I think the question should be directed at the person who wanted me out of the military. You know him, he is Obasanjo, I was only 23 years old in the Army when I was retired. As the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, he has the power to do what he did. What surprised me was that I was with him two hours before the news of my retirement was broken to me and he never mentioned near it. I was not shocked because in the military, you can’t question the decision of your superior, so you just take it. There is arbitrariness in the military and you live with them. However, what pained me was that it was over the radio that the news was broken, meaning that I heard the news just like any one who listened or monitored the radio. That was how I was thrown out without prior notice and had to start a new life afresh. But as a Sandhurst trained combatant, I remained a lifetime General.

https://www.sunnewsonline.com/why-my-sack-from-army-by-obasanjo-pained-me-general-ibm-haruna/