₦airaland Forum

1) Tanzania.

Thursday, April 9th 1964. Soundless footage of President Julius Nyerere of Tanganyika welcoming officers and men of the 3rd Battalion of the Nigerian Army when they paraded for him at State House in Dar-es-Salaam.

The Nigerian troops took the place of 600 British Marine Commandos who were called in to keep the peace following the Tanganyika Army mutiny in January.

President Nyerere inspected a Nigerian guard of honour and afterwards took the salute at a march past, led by the battalion's commanding officer, Lieutenant Colonel Yakubu Pam.

Accompanying Mr Nyerere were the Tanganyika vice president, Mr Rashidi Kawawa; the Tanganyika Minister for External Affairs and Defence, Mr Oscar Kambona; and the Nigerian High Commissioner, Mr N.A.Martin.

Source: Reuters News.


Note: On April 26th 1964, Tanganyika joined with the People's Republic of Zanzibar and Pemba to form the United Republic of Tanganyika and Zanzibar. The union was influenced by Julius Nyerere's principle of Ujamaa, a key component of which stressed the need for "territorial nationalism." The country was re-named Tanzania within a year of the union.

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MxI266DDspA


The origin of the mutiny.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tanganyika_Rifles

Tuesday, March 31st 1964. Footage of the first contingent of Nigerian peacekeeping troops arriving in Dar-es-Salaam, Tanganyika (later Tanzania).

They were met at the airport by Mr. Ade Martins, the Nigerian High Commissioner to Tanganyika, members of the Tanganyika cabinet and the commander of the soon-to-depart British commandos.

Source: Reuters News Archive.

Note: The Nigerian troops took the place of 600 British Marine Commandos who were called in to keep the peace following the Tanganyika Army mutiny in January 1964. The Nigerian Army was given the role after an emergency meeting of the organisation of African Unity (OAU) in Dar-es-Salaam in February. The troops were members of the 3rd Battalion of the Nigerian Army commanded by Lt. Colonel Yakubu Pam.

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PGsbLz9-lDA

Monday, September 21st 1964. Soundless footage of President Julius Nyerere of Tanganyika honouring the officers and men of the 3rd Battalion of the Nigerian Army at a farewell parade at State House in Dar-es-Salaam.


The battalion, which was led by Lieutenant Colonel Yakubu Pam, had taken over the policing role undertaken by British Royal Marine commandos in April. The British commandos were called in by the Tanganyikan government after the Tanganyikan army mutinied in January.
The Nigerian Army was given the role after an emergency meeting of the organisation of African Unity (OAU) in Dar-es-Salaam in February.


During the assignment, Lieutenant Colonel Pam oversaw policing as well as training duties. On September 1st, 1,100 recruits for the new Tanganyikan Army completed a three-month training programme. Those soldiers, together with troops of the 2nd battalion Tanganyikan Rifles were expected to more than make up for the loss of the 1st Battalion which was disbanded after the mutiny.


The intention was that the Nigerian soldiers would be replaced after six months by another contingent of African soldiers from either Algeria or Ethiopia, but the Tanzanian authorities decided that this was no longer necessary.



During the ceremony, President Nyerere presented Lt. Col. Pam with ivory horns and the colonel returned the favour by presenting the president with a shield.

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UiyGTCCWbcY

2) Sao Tome and Principe:

Unfortunately I can't find my old post about Sao Tome, but let me tell you about my abiding memory.

There was a coup in Sao Tome and President Obasanjo gave the coupists a deadline to surrender. The coupists surrendered and my abiding memory is of Nigeria 001 flying into Sao Tome and Obasanjo coming down the steps while holding the hand of the Sao Tomean president (the Sao Tomean president had sought refuge in Nigeria).


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MZ-9S0Qlmfs

Nigeria Urges Sao Tome and Principe Coup Leaders to Return Power to Civilians

2003-07-17

Nigeria is trying to convince the leaders of the military coup in neighboring Sao Tome and Principe to return power to civilians. The two countries share ownership of rich oil reserves in the Gulf of Guinea.

Rebel soldiers in Sao Tome and Principe say Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo spoke with their leader, Major Fernando Pereira, Thursday about arranging for the visit of a Nigerian envoy.

The coup took place early Wednesday as Sao Tome President Fradique de Menezes was in Nigeria attending an economic summit.

Mr. Obasanjo addressed the summit later on Wednesday and added his voice to mounting international condemnation of the coup.

"May I express our heartfelt support for the president of Sao Tome and Principe who is here with us." he said. "In his absence some members of the armed forces attempted to seize power. We condemn such act in the strongest term possible and we advise the military adventurers to call off this dangerous action and hand over power to the elected president."

Nigeria has also warned the coup leaders against harming any of its citizens. In the capital Sao Tome, most civilians returned to normal activities on Thursday.

The rebellious soldiers have also given assurances they will not harm senior government officials. They say they are holding the officials in an air conditioned room.

Machine gun wielding mutineers met no resistance Wednesday when they took over all key government buildings as well as the airport.

The mutineers say they acted to save the tiny island state from social and economic decline. They accused the current elected leadership of being elitist and corrupt.

Sao Tome and Principe is one of the world's poorest countries, but studies suggest it may have vast oil deposits in its territorial waters.

Many foreign oil companies have already expressed interest in developing several oil blocks jointly owned by Sao Tome and Nigeria. The start of international bidding has sharpened political rivalries.

Sao Tome's elected government has insisted it needs international help to protect its oil interests. It has even invited the United States to set up a naval base on the islands.

https://www.voanews.com/a/a-13-a-2003-07-17-12-nigeria/395820.html

3) Equatorial Guinea:

naptu2:
Memories.

.DRAMA!

It was an exciting morning and I was trying to figure out what was happening. Many things were happening in different places at the same time and I was monitoring BBC World Service and Nigerian media to try and figure out what the hell was happening.

1) Nigeria ordered NNS Aradu to Equatorial Guinea to go and protect the country. It seems the order came from President Obasanjo himself.

2) There were rumours of a coup or attempted coup in Equatorial Guinea and some soldiers had been arrested.

3) Some people had been arrested in a Zimbabwean airport. It seemed like President Mugabe had been informed about it and he had called Presidents Obasanjo and Mbeki. The BBC said that Simon Mann was one of the people that were arrested.

4) Some other people had been arrested in South Africa.

5) There were rumours of an investigation in the UK, but nobody had been arrested.

How were all these things connected?


I'll tell you.

Equatorial Guinea was a poor country near Calabar. The country is actually split into 2 parts, Bioko, which is an island in the Atlantic Ocean (not far from Calabar and Cameroon) and Rio Muni, which is on the mainland and borders Cameroon and the Atlantic Ocean.

Back in the 1980s Nigerians often joked that the Nigerian Government should invade Equatorial Guinea and make it the 20th state. Equatorial Guinea was small, poor and there were many Nigerians in the country.

I told you about what happened in 1987. Nigerian military intelligence discovered that South Africans were working on a project in Equatorial Guinea and the government demanded that the Equato-Guineans should expel the South Africans. Admiral Aikhomu made a very strong statement and this inspired Vanguard Newspaper to write a fantastic fictional article about a war between Nigeria and South Africa. Anyway, Babangida sent General Ike Nwachukwu to talk to the Equato-Guineans and the South Africans were expelled.

Oil

Equatorial Guinea, which had been a small and poor country, discovered oil in 1999 or 2000 and it suddenly became rich. Equatorial Guinea and Nigeria signed an agreement on how they would divide the oil.

The issue in 2004.

Which brings us to the main issue.

A group of British businessmen, including Mark Thatcher, son of former British Prime Minister Baroness Margaret Thatcher, decided that they wanted Equatorial Guinea's oil money. They hired some mercenaries (led by Simon Mann) and planned to stage a coup in order to take over the country. They also bribed some Equato-Guinean soldiers to assist them.

Simon Mann was a former British soldier who created a mercenary company after retiring from service.

He went to South Africa and hired some South African mercenaries to take part in the coup. They flew to Zimbabwe to get more men and equipment and that's when Zimbabwean security discovered that they were armed. The mercenaries were arrested. The Zimbabweans discovered that it was part of a coup plot and Mugabe called Obasanjo and Mbeki.

President Obasanjo ordered the Nigerian Navy's flagship, NNS Aradu, to Equatorial Guinea to protect the island. Nigerian soldiers were also sent there.

Some of the mercenaries that were in South Africa were also arrested.

The Equato-Guineans also arrested the soldiers that were going to take part in the coup.

The mercenaries in Zimbabwe and South Africa were eventually extradited to Equatorial Guinea to stand trial. Simon Mann was jailed.

All of these happened in 2004.

Simon Mann gave an interview in which he claimed that senior British figures knew about the coup plot. The British media also conducted investigation that showed that MI6 and the CIA knew about the coup plot beforehand, but decided to do nothing.

Years later, Simon Mann was pardoned by the president of Equatorial Guinea (he had been ill) and set free.

Simon Mann has died today at the age of 72.

3 more

4) Gambia:

naptu2:
Sir Dauda Jawara was prime minister of Gambia from 1962 (before independence in 1965) till 1970 (Queen Elizabeth II was head of state). He became president of Gambia in 1970.

Sir Dauda Jawara was overthrown in a coup in 1994 and Lieutenant Yahya Jammeh (as he then was) became head of state.

Jammeh transitioned from being a military head of state to a civilian elected president in 1996. He kept changing the constitution to extend his tenure.

Jammeh lost the 2016 presidential election to Adama Barrow, but refused to leave office. Instead he sacked the electoral commission.

ECOWAS told Jammeh to leave office, but he refused.

President Buhari ordered Nigerian Navy warship, NNS Centenary, to Gambia and Nigerian Air Force Alpha Jets flew over Banjul. Senegalese soldiers also massed on the border, ready to invade Gambia and remove Jammeh.

Jammeh got the message and went into exile.

Gambians took to social media to mourn and thank President Buhari when they heard of his (Buhari's) death.

Thirteen more characters needed.

It's a shame that Nigeria can not solve a lesser terrorism issue that has been disturbing this nation for decades which has taken the lives of many civilians and many gallant military officers.
But they send dozens of fighters and airforce jets to foil coup attempts in other African countries.

That's hypocrisy at it's peak.

5) Benin Republic

On December 7th, 2025 several soldiers of the Benin Armed Forces led by Lieutenant Colonel Pascal Tigri announced the overthrow of Beninese president Patrice Talon on national television, following an attack on Talon's residence in Cotonou and the residences of other top-ranking military officials. 

The Beninoise Foreign Ministry sent a note verbal to the Nigerian Foreign Ministry, requesting for air support and then President Talon sent a direct request to President Tinubu for ground troops.

The Beninoise Republican Guards had already repelled the coupists, but the government felt that innocent civilians would have been negatively affected if Beninoise forces had fought directly with the coupists, so they activated Ecowas agreements and requested for air support from Nigeria and Cote D'Ivoire.

The coupists had retreated to a military base that had armoured vehicles, so Nigerian and Ivorian fighter jets attacked the armoured vehicles. Ivorian special forces also entered Benin to assist in dealing with the coupists.

kingbee90:
Meanwhile Nigeria can not solve a simple terrorism issue that has been disturbing this nation and has taken somany lives of civilians and our gallant military officers.

That's hypocrisy.

If it is simple, then why don't you go and solve it, since it is so simple?

Mouth experts.

Bonus) Gambia

Colonel Lawan Gwadabe did not like General Abacha. He was an IBB boy. However, Gwadabe was from a well connected family and so Abacha was trying to bring him closer, so that he could use his connections. Gwadabe was unhappy about this.

There was a coup in the Gambia and Sir Dauda Jawara was overthrown. Gwadabe thought that this was a great opportunity to get closer to the Americans. His contacts in the US Government had asked him for a Nigerian intervention. He had presented the idea to General Abacha and Abacha had agreed.

Sir Dauda Jawara was on a ship in the Atlantic and the idea was that Nigerian troops would invade the Gambja, remove Jammeh and re-instal Sir Dauda Jawara as democratically elected president. Gwadabe even arranged for Abacha and Clinton to speak on the phone.

However, Abacha did not go through with the deal. This greatly embarrassed Gwadabe. He didn't know how to explain it to his contacts in the US Government. It's one of the reasons why he decided not to have anything to do with Abacha. Abacha was trying to bring Gwadabe closer to him, but the Abacha boys were trying to remove Gwadabe, so Gwadabe helped the Abacha boys to achieve their aim and he was posted out of the country.

naptu2:
If it is simple, then why don't you go and solve it, since it is so simple?

Mouth experts.

You and your types are part of Nigeria's problems.

Common Disembark from my mentions !!

kingbee90:
You and your types are part of Nigeria's problems.

Common Disembark from my mentions !!

You can't answer my simple question Mr Mouth General, why have you not solved the problem, since it is so simple? All you know how to do is make noise online.

You tol disembark from my thread.

naptu2:
If it is simple, then why don't you go and solve it, since it is so simple?

Mouth experts.

This comment is disgusting really.

You can't be living. Hypocritical life and be bold and arrogant about it.

Make we use am do wetin na

So we have been violating people's sovereignty all these while.

The real giant of the black race NIGERIA

kingbee90:
It's a shame that Nigeria can not solve a simple terrorism issue that has been disturbing this nation for decades which has taken the lives of many civilians and many gallant military officers.
But they send dozens of fighters and airforce jets to foil coup attempts in other African countries.

That's hypocrisy at it's peak.

You too are a Nigerian, go and fight bandits

kingbee90:
It's a shame that Nigeria can not solve a simple terrorism issue that has been disturbing this nation for decades which has taken the lives of many civilians and many gallant military officers.
But they send dozens of fighters and airforce jets to foil coup attempts in other African countries.

That's hypocrisy at it's peak.

go and join army now,he say na CBN or NNPC he wan join…

DeeFlask:
People have died due to insecurity in Nigeria this comment is disgusting

sorry o,dead people right activist…as if they really care about the dead people or they just look for every opportunity to disparage the government.

naptu2:
If it is simple, then why don't you go and solve it, since it is so simple?

Mouth experts.

People have died due to insecurity in Nigeria this comment is disgusting

Yet, they cannot fight terrorism. Same hypocrites that were pushing out a propaganda of sovereignty when President Trump threatened to intervene in Nigeria are the ones praising this APC government for sending fighter jets to Benin Republic. Isn't that wonderful?

May God bless President Donald Trump.

Moveittothem:
So we have been violating people's sovereignty all these while.

Military coup of civilians government is the real violation of people's rights.

I honestly don't know why most Obidients are actively supporting coups.

I'm 100% certain none of you would support having a military sole administrator any state in the East.

naptu2:
If it is simple, then why don't you go and solve it, since it is so simple?

Mouth experts.

It's simpler to enter another country's airspace, than solving insecurity issues within your own airspace.
Is that not wonderful?

DeeFlask:
People have died due to insecurity in Nigeria this comment is disgusting

I am really ashamed and embarrassed at the comment of the OP. All my respect for him/her just flew out of the windows. Just imagine the insensitive comment such person is making about security of lives and property especially considering the amount of lives lost to incessant killings.

WorldRichest:
You too are a Nigerian, go and fight bandits

When you see a shallow minded person you'll know for sure.
Smh

naptu2:
If it is simple, then why don't you go and solve it, since it is so simple?

Mouth experts.

I am sorry but whoever you are, you are purely hypocritical. Is it easier to invade another country or fight the terrorists in Nigeria?

Nigeria was the giant of Africa then not now..
Now that Nigeria needs help to battle insecurity, those countries they fought for than can't help cos even in this banditry problem, Nigeria is still bigger and stronger than all the countries in west Africa...

obi4eze:
I am really ashamed and embarrassed at the comment of the OP. All my respect for him/her just flew out of the windows. Just imagine the insensitive comment such person is making about security of lives and property especially considering the amount of lives lost to incessant killings.

You don't have to be surprised. The OP and some other people on this platform are bound to play partisan politics due to the nature of their job in real life.
I'm suspecting their case is a case of "I can't say what would implicate me and my job, I got mouth to feed" and that quite understandable

God bless the Nigeria Armed Forces, Victory shall always be yours.

ZombieDredd:
This comment is disgusting really.

You can't be living. Hypocritical life and be bold and arrogant about it.

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DeeFlask:
People have died due to insecurity in Nigeria this comment is disgusting

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obi4eze:
I am sorry but whoever you are, you are purely hypocritical. Is it easier to invade another country or fight the terrorists in Nigeria?

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tollyboy5:
It's simpler to enter another country's airspace, than solving insecurity issues within your own airspace.
Is that not wonderful?

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What is hypocritical is calling an insurgency in which brave and gallant troops have lost their lives "simple" and making fun of their efforts. Do you belong to that crew?

If it is simple, then go and do it and save lives!




So many mouth generals here.

tollyboy5:
You don't have to be surprised. The OP and some other people on this platform are bound to play partisan politics due to the nature of their job in real life.
I'm suspecting their case is a case of "I can't say what would implicate me and my job, I got mouth to feed" and that quite understandable

Anyone who uses his 'job' to undermine or deny the incessant killing of innocent people in Nigeria by terrorists will definitely share in the repercussion of terrorism.

If it is easy to end an insurgency, then my challenge to the mouth generals here is that they should save lives and go and show the Nigerian Armed Forces how to do it.

naptu2:
My surprisation

It is usually very difficult to end an insurgency. I follow the news and I know that insurgencies go on for decades. There's an insurgency in Colombia that has been raging since the 1960s. There are other such insurgencies that I have tracked for decades. Remember the IRA in the UK? ETA in Spain, etc?

The other day I wrote a question, I said that the war in Iraq began in 2003 when the Americans invaded, when did it end? The answer is that it's still going on right now (22 years later). The media just stopped paying attention to it because the Americans withdrew.

It's very difficult to overcome asymmetric wars because the insurgents can easily blend into the civilian population (they don't even wear uniforms), they can easily adapt and it is very difficult to catch them, even though you are stronger than them.

That's why what happened in Sri Lanka surprised me.

There was an insurgency in Sri Lanka that I had been following for decades. It started in 1983 and like all insurgencies, I thought it would never end.

The Government of Sri Lanka was fighting against the Tamil Tiger rebels. The Tigers had engaged in bombing campaigns and other terrorist acts, they held territory, etc and it was difficult to defeat them.

Then, in 2009, the Sri Lankan Government launched an offensive and defeated the Tigers. I couldn't believe it! For the next 3 years I kept expecting to hear that the Tigers launched an attack, but nothing of the sort happened. That was my surprisation.

Anyway, I know that the aim is simply to derail my thread.

This thread is about the times that Nigeria has intervened to stop coups in other countries (troops actually doing the work). It is not about mouth generals and their fantasies.