History of Seventh Military Coup in Nigeria (Gideon Orkar's Coup; Babangida Escaped by the Whisker)

In this episode, we narrate the History of the Seventh Military Coup in Nigeria. This was the coup executed by Major Gideon Orkar, Col. Tony Nyiam and many others. It was the coup that almost took the life of General Ibrahim Babangida. But the coup was thwarted by the gallantry of Lt. Gen. Sanni Abacha (then Chief of Army Staff) who changed into combat gear on the morning of the coup and led some loyal soldiers to repel the coup plotters from Dodan Barracks. The coup failed but some persons lost their lives. Babangida's ADC - Lt. Col. U.K Bello lost his life in the coup. It is reported that UK Bello was the one who ferried his boss and family to safety outside the barracks. His undoing was coming back to the Barracks to fight the coup plotters. This is where he lost his life. He found his way into an armoured tank and was ready to engage the coup plotters but unknown to him, the firing pins had been removed from the tank by the maintenance engineer, a day before the coup. It was later discovered that the said engineer was part of the coup. Other persons also lost their lives in the crossfire. Abacha had every opportunity to have taken over the reins of power but he refused to do so. This is where Babangida had tremendous respect for Abacha. He saw him as a man of honour with great regard for comradeship. Abacha took to radio and announced to the country that the coup had been thwarted and that Babangida was safe. Hours later, Babangida addressed the nation and reassured the country that he was safe. Many of the coup plotters were arrested and tried while others like Lt. Col. Tony Nyiam escaped and flee abroad. In the end, dozens were executed by firing squad following the verdicts of the military tribunals. This appears to be the bloodiest military coup in the history of the country.

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