lotilosi:

.....

Sunnybobo3:


And a mass murderer

opopulip:
Rest on our Hero!

[;;;l

GenBuhari:
Thief O and Evil IBB assassinated Muritala Mohammed in a covert coup, which they blamed on Dimka.

Murtala’s second fatal mistake was his failure to take his personal security more seriously. Perhaps due to his personal popularity, Murtala had never bothered with the massive security detail characteristic of so many modern Heads of State. Murtala mingled with the masses in the teeming streets of Lagos and drove around town without a motorcade. He would startle others by arriving unannounced at various locations without security. Concerned by his boss’s lax attitude towards security, in early 1976 Murtala’s deputy, Lt-Gen Obasanjo urged him to take his personal security more seriously. In typically stubborn manner, Murtala refused to heed the advice of his deputy, and replied that if anyone was planning to overthrow him, then “if they succeeded in killing all of us, good luck to them” in running the affairs of Nigeria and the myriad problems associated therewith. He perhaps sealed his own fate with those words.

It has been said that security and routine do not go together. Routine was to prove fatal for Murtala’s security. Having dispensed with personal security and a motorcade, on Friday 13th February 1976, Murtala departed for work along his usual route. As his car crawled to a halt in the infamous Lagos traffic outside the Federal Secretariat in Ikoyi, a group of soldiers rushed over to the car and fired a volley of gunshots which killed Murtala, his driver, and his ADC. After only six months in office, Murtala Muhammed was murdered in an abortive military coup led by Lt-Col BS Dimka – the head of the army’s physical training corps. Then came several gestures which although small in isolation – demonstrated Murtala’s popularity across Nigeria. The commander of the elite 1st mechanised infantry division in Kaduna: Major-General Alani Akinrinade, immediately made a radio announcement proclaiming his loyalty to Murtala and condemning the attempted coup. Then when news of the coup spread, students at the University of Benin marched into the streets and staged an angry demonstration against the soldiers that had killed their hero. Given the manner in which Nigerian soldiers had slaughtered civilians between 1966 and 1970, this was a brave gesture by the students. The coup was eventually put down and many of the culprits arrested. Seven days of national mourning were declared in Murtala’s honour. At the end of these seven days, grief stricken Nigerians were given a public holiday.

Investigations after the coup caused a public furore when it was disclosed that Dmika had visited the British High Commission while the coup was in progress. Nigerian authorities were angered that the British took their time before warning them of Dimka’s movements and intentions. This allied to suspected CIA knowledge of the coup caused anti-British and American sentiment. Matters came to a head when at the height of the national mourning for the slain Head of State, the British High Commissioner in Lagos, Sir Marin Le Quesne, insensitively reminded Nigerians that he expected them to pay for the damage caused to the windows of the British High Commission by demonstrators. Although correct in principle, Sir Martin’s statement showed poor timing and insensitivity to the mourning of his hosts. This proved to be the last straw for the Government. Sir Martin was told to leave the country.

The mutineers later justified their coup by explaining that they were angered by Murtala’s plans to reduce the size of the army (as they almost certainly would have been laid off). They also felt that the SMC was “going communist”. Dimka (after a nationwide manhunt) and his accomplices were arrested and placed on trial before a Special Military Tribunal. Under interrogation, Dimka made a number of shocking revelations which implicated many other officers (including the Commissioner for Defence: Major-General Iliya Bissalla who had been present at Murtala’s funeral) in the coup plot. Despite protesting his innocence throughout, even as he was being led onto the execution ground, Bissalla was convicted of treason and executed by firing squad along with Dimka and scores of his accomplices. The Chief of Staff, Supreme Headquarters, Lt-General (later General) Olusegun Obasanjo (who escaped death due to a lucky case of mistaken identity that saw the mutineers mistakenly ambush and shoot up the car of Colonel Ray Dumuje thinking that Obasanjo was inside) succeeded Murtala as Head of State and pledged to continue with the policies initiated by his predecessor. He eventually returned the country to civilian rule on October 1 1979 as Murtala had promised.

As a lasting symbol of his legacy, Nigeria’s largest international airport at Ikeja in Lagos was renamed the “Murtala Muhammed International Airport”. This airport is the entry point for most visitors to Nigeria, and is Africa’s busiest airport. The bullet riddled car in which Murtala was killed is today on museum display in Nigeria. He departed from Nigeria’s political scene in the same manner he entered it: in a hail of bullets.

Redoil:
muhammed ramat murtala one of the first nigerian to decived the northerner. His grandfather was a trader who gave birth to ramat father in kano and ramat claim to hail from kano.
Ramat hails from agenebode a town popularly called bode which is not far from present day auchi.

sucess001:
[size=24pt]Pardon me if i am wrong but i read somewhere that he was temperamental and under his watch and Command, the Asaba massacre took place...how true is this...?

Also read about how he was disobedient to gowon's government and led an A disastrous attack on onitcha ONITSHA during the civil war...[/size]

bushdoc9919:


Nope...Muritala Muhammed was assasinated by a Middle Belt soldier, acting on orders from Dimka.

IBB and OBJ were among the loyalist soldiers who put down the coup.

More here

Chidonc:
1) Who is murtala
2)Is he dead?
3)If he was killd by a coup y not police shld arrest d coup

Over here in china we dnt knw him

GenBuhari:
That is the official version that the real coup plotters (Thief O and Evil IBB) told the world.

The mutineers later justified their coup by explaining that they were angered by Murtala’s plans to reduce the size of the army (as they almost certainly would have been laid off). They also felt that the SMC was “going communist”. Dimka (after a nationwide manhunt) and his accomplices were arrested and placed on trial before a Special Military Tribunal. Under interrogation, Dimka made a number of shocking revelations which implicated many other officers (including the Commissioner for Defence: Major-General Iliya Bissalla who had been present at Murtala’s funeral) in the coup plot. Despite protesting his innocence throughout, even as he was being led onto the execution ground, Bissalla was convicted of treason and executed by firing squad along with Dimka and scores of his accomplices. The Chief of Staff, Supreme Headquarters, Lt-General (later General) Olusegun Obasanjo (who escaped death due to a lucky case of mistaken identity that saw the mutineers mistakenly ambush and shoot up the car of Colonel Ray Dumuje thinking that Obasanjo was inside) succeeded Murtala as Head of State and pledged to continue with the policies initiated by his predecessor. He eventually returned the country to civilian rule on October 1 1979 as Murtala had promised.

martynsnet:
At age 37 see how much he had achieved? I also noticed younger people were in power and influential positions back then. the then Governor of Rivers State, Chief Spiff was in his 20's, my question now is, what seemed to have pushed up the achievement age.

One seldom see young people doing well, a man in his 20's is likely still in Uni. What is happening my people?