continued from http://www.dawodu.com/omoigui31.htm
By
Nowa
Omoigui
OWERRI, 1969 [APPENDIX]
Throughout this essay I have referred to this fine
officer as “Etuk.” In some publications he is referred to as “Utuk” but I have
used “Etuk” because that is what was used in the most recent official Army
publication on the Civil War. Colonel EA Etuk (rtd) [N415] was admitted to the
“Boys Company” (Nigerian Military School) in 1954 at age 14. In 1958, he
graduated from NMS and was a soldier at the officer preparatory school at Apapa
in Lagos. He was selected for further officer cadet training at Fort Dix in New
Jersey, followed by six months of cavalry and armored
training at Fort Knox in Kentucky, both in the United States – as part of
the USAAF Officer Leadership Training program of that era. He was commissioned
Second Lieutenant in June 1963, underwent further training and was welcomed home
in 1964 by then Defence Minister, Alhaji Muhammadu Ribadu.
Etuk served as a subaltern in the 4th
Battalion at Ibadan under the late Lt. Col. Abogo Largema. As a Captain he was
deployed to the 2nd Brigade at Apapa under the late Brigadier Zakaria
Maimalari. During the count down to the war he rejected an invitation by
Colonel Effiong to return to the eastern region to fight under Ojukwu. He was
subsequently a staff officer (operations), charged with weapons acquisition
under Lt. Col. Iliya Bissala at AHQ and went on arms purchasing missions abroad
for Nigeria at the onset of the civil war. In October 1967, Lt. Col. Bissala
prevented then Lt. Col. Murtala Mohammed from drafting Etuk to the 2nd
Division for the disastrous Onitsha assault river crossing. However, he was
later literally “hijacked” by Lt. Col. B.A.M. Adekunle and deployed to the 3rd
Division as the Officer Commanding the 8 Battalion in Calabar. After
battalion operations in the Calabar-Itu-Ikot-Ekpene axis he was redeployed to
Port Harcourt as Commander, 16 Brigade. As a Field Major, he took part in the
successful 3MCDO campaign for Port Harcourt along with officers like Lt. Col.
Filemon Shande, Lt. Col. Pius Eromobor, Major George Innih, and (initially)
Adaka Boro, among others.
After the fall of Port Harcourt, Etuk was tasked
(as a Field Lt. Col.) with the capture of Owerri as part of “Operation OAU”.
“….. the enemy force at Owerri which was the [16]
Brigade under a young Calabar officer called Utuk [Etuk], was easily the best
fighting unit fielded by Nigeria throughout the war. Right from Port Harcourt,
and particularly at Afam, it had become obvious that the Brigade was a force
well led. Inside Owerri, they fought with extraordinary courage, flexibility
and determination. The withdrawal of the Brigade from Owerri was tactically
tidy and well planned and executed. Without doubt no other Nigerian Brigade
could have withstood for more than a month the punishment the enemy [16] Brigade
absorbed with patience for over four months. Only that Brigade could have got
out of Owerri under the circumstances.”
Born in 1937
to an Ogbomosho father and Bachama mother, the Asipa of Ogbomosho, Brigadier
Benjamin Adesanya Maja Adekunle (rtd) underwent secondary education at the
Government College Okene (in present day Kogi State). He joined the Nigerian
Army on March 15th, 1958. After basic training at the ROSTS in Teshie, Ghana,
he proceed to the Royal Military Academy at Sandhurst in the UK. He was
commissioned 2/Lt on December 15, 1960. As a platoon commander, he served in
the Kasai province of Congo with the 1QONR (1st Battalion) during his first tour
of duty with UN Peace-Keeping operations in that country (ONUC). In 1962, Lt.
Adekunle became Aide-de-Camp to the Governor of the eastern region, Sir Akanu
Ibiam. The following year, as a Captain, he was posted back to the Congo as
Staff Captain (A) to the Nigerian Brigade HQ at Luluabourg - under Brigadier B.
Ogundipe. In 1964, Major Adekunle attended the Defence Services Staff College
at Wellington, in India. When he returned he was briefly appointed Adjutant
General at the AHQ in May 1965 to replace Lt. Col. Gowon, who was proceeding on
a course outside the country. However, he later ceded the position to Lt. Col.
James Pam and was posted back to his old Battalion (1st Bn) in Enugu as a
Company Commander.
In May 1966,
Major Adekunle was among those passed over for promotion during Major General
Ironsi's Army promotion exercise.
However,
Adekunle came to public attention, when, in August 1966, he led a unit of
soldiers of non-eastern origin who were then part of the 1st battalion by train
out of Enugu in the east, enroute to Lagos in the south west via Kaduna in the
north. This was prompted by a recommendation by the regional conference in Lagos
(following the bloody chaos of the July 29 northern counter-coup.) It
suggested that not only were military personnel to be posted to Barracks in
their regions of origin, but "for security reasons, the Supreme Commander should
take charge of peace and security in Lagos." The mutinous 2nd and 4th
Battalions at Ikeja and Ibadan, respectively, were ordered to move to Kaduna and
other northern cities while non-eastern elements of the 1st Battalion in Enugu
were deployed to Ikeja in Lagos to replace the notorious 2nd battalion.
However, the trip to Lagos from Enugu was full of high drama. Adekunle narrowly
escaped being killed near Minna when he challenged mutinous troops of northern
origin under his command for murdering two officers of Igbo origin who had
joined the Train in Kaduna enroute to Lagos with plans to proceed back to the
East. Indeed, Adekunle claims that the scar of a bayonet wound he still carries
to this day, was inflicted by then Lt. Shehu Musa Yar'Adua. When the non-eastern
ethnic component of the 1st Battalion finally arrived in Lagos it was
redesignated the 6th Battalion - under Major BAM Adekunle.
He later
assumed command of the Lagos Garrison Organisation as a substantive Lt. Col.
When the civil war erupted in July 1967, Adekunle was tasked to lead elements of
the LGO - which now included two new battalions (7th and 8th) - to conduct the
historic sea borne assault on Bonny. He was promoted temporary Colonel after
the Bonny landing. The 6th (under Major Jalo) and 8th (under Major Ochefu)
battalions of the LGO subsequently took part in operations to liberate the
Midwest following the Biafran invasion of August 1967. The 7th (under Major
Abubakar) stayed behind to hold Bonny. Because Major Jalo's outfit was seconded
to Lt. Col. Murtala Mohammed's 2nd Division, Adekunle was left with only the 8th
Battalion at Escravos. He, therefore, protested to AHQ and got the LGO upgraded
to Brigade status through the creation of the 31 and 33 Battalions (under Majors
Aliyu and Hamman, respectively). This Brigade, combined with elements of the
LGO along the eastern seaboard, was officially designated the 3 Infantry
Division.
However,
Colonel Adekunle did not think the name "3 Infantry Division" was sensational
enough nor did it project the nature of the unique terrain in which his men had
to fight. Therefore, without formal approval from AHQ, he renamed it the " 3
Marine Commando (3MCDO)."
According to
Brigadier Adekunle (rtd),
"It was being
called 3 Division. Why then 3 Division? Why not give it a new name, a new
drive, a new sense of purpose? That was why I called to say look, let me look
for an animal that is wicked but at the same time looks very human and the
animal that occurred to me then was an Octopus. Octopus will be sucking your
blood and at the same time shedding tears for you. While it has all his arms
round you, shedding tears and sucking the whole of the blood and yet you find
that it is oozing you bit by bit. The Octopus became the insignia of the
Division, which is still being maintained today. It was the European
journalists at Port Harcourt who mistook the Octopus for Scorpion. That was how
the name "Black Scorpion" originated."
Other sources
claim that Adekunle was also unhappy that Lt. Col. Murtala Mohammed's Division
was named the 2nd Division - when in fact it entered the war after his units had
already seen action at Bonny.
Adekunle's
boys in the Midwest seized Escravos, Burutu, Urhonigbe, Owa and Aladima. They
captured Bomadi and Patani, Youngtown, Koko, Sapele, Ajagbodudu, Warri, Ughelli,
Orerokpe, Umutu and Itagba Uno. They moved in force into Kwale, eventually
linking up Murtala Mohammed's 2nd Division as he charged down from Owo through
Sabongida Ora, Uzebba and Iruekpen, eventually arriving at Umunede and
Ogwashi-Uku after taking Benin City through Ekpoma, Ehor and Oluku. Another
one of Mohammed's Brigades advanced directly along a west-east axis from Ore.
Adekunle's
next task was to take Calabar - Operation Tiger Claw - the success of which made
Adekunle internationally famous. He quickly gained a reputation for
fearlessness, daring, and tactical innovation. There were reports of him
leading troops into battle - from the front. He even climbed into Air Force
aircraft to personally supervise bombing runs or go on recce. However, Air Vice
Marshall Yisa Doko (rtd) seems to recall that Adekunle did not find it funny
when they flew into anti-aircraft fire on one occasion, frantically demanding to
be taken back to base. Aware of his growing reputation, he began to court the
Press. The popular musician, Sunny Ade, even waxed a record in his name.
Then he took
on targets in the Uyo, Annang and Aba provinces. Although Port Harcourt and
Owerri were initially part of the 2nd Division area of responsibility and Obubra
under the 1st Division assignment, Adekunle took them all on under the wings of
the 3MCDO. Witnesses say he often carried a club that he used to urge soldiers
on in battle. By May 19th, 1968 he had taken the strategic city of Port Harcourt
oblivious to a few disasters along the way like Onne, Arochukwu and Aletu. It
was at Port Harcourt that he made his now famous promise that he would seize
Owerri, Aba and Umuahia within two weeks (Operation OAU).
Among his
many melodramatic and controversial public remarks was the statement he made
that,
"....We shoot
at everything that moves and when our troops march into the centre of Ibo
territory, we shoot at everything, even at things that do not move... "
Following the disaster at Owerri and
near-mutiny among his troops, he was recalled to Lagos in May 1969, promoted
substantive Colonel and appointed Director of Training and Planning at the SHQ,
a position he held until the end of the war. He was subsequently made the
Military Commandant of the Port Decongestion Task Force. He was destined never
to command troops again.
General
Yakubu Gowon (SHQ)
General IB
Babangida (1DIV)
Lt. General
Alani Akinrinade (3MCDO)
Lt. General
Garba Duba (1DIV)
Lt. General
M. Balarabe Haladu (1DIV)
Major General
M. Shuwa (1DIV)
Major General
James Oluleye (AHQ)
Major General
Ibrahim Haruna (2DIV)
Major General
Iliya Bissala (1DIV)
Major General
Hassan Usman Katsina (AHQ)
Major General
George Innih (3MCDO)
Major General
A. Shelleng (1DIV)
Major General
Mamman Jiya Vatsa (1DIV)
Major General
Emmanuel Abisoye (1DIV, 3MCDO)
Major General
AB Mamman (1DIV)
Major General
YY Kure (1DIV)
Brigadier
Pius Eromobor (3MCDO)
Brigadier SE
Tuoyo (3MCDO)
Brigadier
Ibrahim Bako (1DIV)
Brigadier
Godwin Ally (2DIV, 3MCDO)
Brigadier
Gordon Alabi-Isama (3MCDO)
Colonel ADS
Wya (1DIV)
Colonel Steve
Samaila D. Yombe (1DIV)
Lt. Col.
Filemon A. Shande (3MCDO)
Lt. Col. JO
Ayo-Ariyo (3MCDO)
Lt. Col. JA
Makanjuola (3MCDO)
Lt. Col. AR
Aliyu (3MCDO)
Lt. Col. MB
Ndakotsu (1DIV)
Major MO
Isemede (3MCDO)
Captain
(Field Major) Ado Mohammed (1DIV)
Born in
November 1933, Biafran General Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu (rtd) attended Epsom
College in 1947 followed by Lincoln College at Oxford University in 1952,
eventually acquiring a Graduate Degree in History in 1955. He then became an
assistant district officer in the Eastern region for two years before joining
the Nigerian Army on September 2nd, 1957. After six months training at Eaton
Hall Officer Cadet School in Chester, England, he was short-service commissioned
2/Lt. on March 22nd, 1958. Almost immediately, citing his possession of a
University degree, his seniority was, however, backdated to September 22, 1955
as a 2/Lt. and September 22, 1957 as a Lt. He underwent infantry officer
courses at Hyth and Warminster in the UK before returning to Nigeria in December
1958 as Company Commander in the 5th Queens Nigeria Regiment (Battalion). He
took part in the counter-insurgency campaign along the Cameroon border in 1959
before serving as an instructor in tactics and military law at the Regular
Officers' Special Training School (ROSTS) in Teshie, Ghana. He was promoted
Captain on September 22, 1961 and became the Deputy Assistant
QuarterMasterGeneral (DAQMG) of the 1st Brigade. As a Captain he served in the
Nigerian Brigade HQ at Luluaborg in the Congo as part of UN Peace Keeping Forces
in early 1962. After six months tour of duty in the Congo he attended the Joint
Services Staff College in Latimer, UK. He returned in December 1962 and was
promoted substantive Major on March 7, 1963. He was then promoted substantive
Lt. Col. on April 1st, 1964 and became the first indigenous
Quarter-Master-General (QMG) of the Nigerian Army. In December 1964, just prior
to the federal elections during which he was alleged to have attempted
recruiting others for a coup plot, he was appointed Commander of the 5th
Battalion in Kano. This was the position he was holding at the time of the
first actual Nigerian military coup attempt on January 15th, 1966. For his
complex role in undermining the coup leaders in Kaduna (led by Major PCK Nzeogwu)
he was rewarded with the position of Military Governor of the Eastern region
when the GOC, Nigerian Army, Major General Aguiyi-Ironsi took full control of
the country on January 17, 1966. Some have accused Ojukwu of duplicity,
allegedly because Nzeogwu had apparently recruited him beforehand and got the
impression that he was in support.
Following
over one year of difficult circumstances in the country, including disagreements
over the interpretation of the outcome of the Aburi meetings in Ghana, the die
was cast. It was as Military Governor of the eastern region (later East Central
State after Gowon created 12 new States) that Ojukwu declared Biafran secession
on May 30, 1967. On July 1st 1967, Gowon, in Gazette No. 51, Vol. 54
Part B, revoked the appointment of Ojukwu as Military Governor of the East
Central State. Four days later, on July 5th, 1967 a day before the shooting
stage of the Nigerian civil war actually broke out he was dismissed from the
Nigerian Army. As Head of State of Biafra, he transposed into a Colonel in the
Biafran Army before promoting himself General of the Peoples' Army in June 1969,
following the Biafran recapture of Owerri. He fled into exile in January 1970
but was later pardoned by President Shehu Shagari and returned to Nigeria in
1982.
Biafran Major
General Alexander A. Madiebo (rtd) joined the Nigerian Army on May 28th, 1954
after secondary education at the Government College, Umuahia. He attended the
ROSTS in Teshie, Ghana, before proceeding to the Eaton Hall Officer Cadet School
in Chester, England, after which he attended the Royal Military Academy at
Sandhurst. He was regular commissioned 2/Lt. on December 21st, 1956. He was
initially posted to the Artillery unit until the Nigerian Defence Council
disbanded it in late 1957 in favor of a Recce unit. He later served in the
Reconnaisance Squadron as a Troop Commander during the counter-insurgency
campaign along the Cameroon border in 1959. As a Recce Troop commander, then
Lt. Madiebo was among the first Nigerian soldiers to be deployed in November
1960 to Bukavu in the Congo for peace-keeping operations under the 5 Queens Own
Nigeria Regiment (Battalion). He returned to Nigeria after six months and later
served as the adjutant of the 3rd Queens Own Nigeria Regiment (Battalion) in
Ibadan in 1962 during Operation Banter - the internal security operation in the
Western region. He was however, sent back to Katanga in the Congo - as a Captain
- for another tour of duty later that year in preparation for the assault river
crossing of the Lualaba river in January 1963. Later that year, as a Major
(effective March 16, 1963), Madiebo then underwent further training in Artillery
both in the UK and the US before returning to Nigeria in 1964 as the first
indigenous Commander of the newly recreated Artillery regiment in July 1964. It
was as the Regimental Commander of Artillery in Kaduna that he played a key role
in negotiating an end to the delicate military crisis that erupted between Major
Nzeogwu and Major General Ironsi following the coup attempt of January 15,
1966. (Madiebo was neither informed, nor did he take part in the January 15
coup) He was in the same Sandhurst seniority cohort as Yakubu Gowon, Arthur
Unegbe, Michael Okwechime, and Patrick Anwunah, but was not promoted substantive
Lt. Col. until May 1966, having lost seniority to Gowon and Unegbe. He
miraculously escaped from Northern Nigeria during the break down in law and
order following the July 1966 countercoup and made his way back to the Eastern
region. When Ojukwu declared Biafran secession in May 1967, Madiebo was in the
Eastern region. He was dismissed from the Nigerian Army along with Ojukwu on
July 5th, 1967, but transposed into the Biafran Army with the same rank.
Madiebo's
first command in the new Biafran Army was as the commander of the 7 battalion in
the Nsukka sector. He was later asked to take command of the new 51 Brigade
based at Udi. This Brigade was responsible for the 1st Bn at Ogoja, 14th Bn at
Abakaliki, and the 7th Bn at Nsukka. Madiebo, therefore, supervised most of the
initial Biafran resistance at Garkem, Obudu and Nsukka sectors. Following the
crisis of confidence between then Biafran Army Commander, Lt. Col. [Brigadier]
Hilary Njoku and Ojukwu, Madiebo assumed command as GOC of the Biafran Army with
the rank of Major General in September 1967. At 0300 on January 11, 1970, Major
General Madiebo joined General C. O. Ojukwu, Michael Okpara, and NU Akpan at the
Uli-Ihiala airstrip for the flight into exile "in search of peace". Biafra
collapsed the next day.