*Reflections Without Mirror…..Niyi Aborisade*
Col. Victor Adebukunola Banjo: A Genuine Revolutionary. Part 6.
*The Allegations*
Banjo denied the two allegations (1) violation of law and maintenance decree, a charge of insubordination for retreating from Ore and turning back from capturing lagos (2) Subversion; intention to cause public disorder aiming at capturing power in Biafra . He was taken by surprise. Banjo was an experienced military officer and one of the best intelligent officers of his time, If he had aimed or planned to overthrow Ojukwu, he would have gone to Enugu on that day with the troops that would have taken over and shoot his way out but instead he went with only his escorts to have a meeting with Ojukwu, unbeknown to him that trap had been set for him , pit had been dug for him and ambush had been laid for him; someone he considered his friend and he was helping to achieve his aim had turned to a fiend and had decreed him for death. So sad are our lives, that you can not be certain of when a friend could suddenly become an enemy and those you are trying to help to stand could turn against you and put you down.
Banjo was arrested without the opportunity to fight back. He was caught unprepared and unguarded not because of laxity but because he believed he was in a friendly territory , his own territory and so he was not prepared to fight. He was taken to detention after a gruelling interrogation where he met Ifeajuana, Alale and Agbam.
*Col. Banjo was replaced*
Ojukwu sent signal and appointed Lt.Col. Adewale Ademoyega, another Yoruba man as the commander of the Liberation Army of Nigeria in replacement of Banjo.The Order of Battle was for him to retake the Mid-west from the federal troops and proceed to Lagos. Ojukwu’s mind was made up to capture Yoruba land at all costs but still needed a yoruba man to do the job for him. If Ojukwu plan had succeeded, the Biafran Army would have remained in the west and and all yoruba land probably be annexed to Biafra since by his letter to Banjo, he had reserved to himself the power to name the governor of Western Region the way he did in Mid- West.
*Ademoyega’s Victory*
Ademoyega arranged a meeting with his excellency where he requested for weapons to continue the fight; Ojukwu promised him some ‘chunks’ of weapon and later sent him a Bazooka gun without sight setting which meant they would have to use it and try their luck. Bazooka gun was first used in 2nd world war’, it is a portable recoilless anti-tank rocket launcher , it consisted of a smooth bore steel tube of about 5 feet long open at both ends and equipped with a hand gripped , a trigger mechanism and sights. It is like the modern-day Rocket Propelled Launcher (RPG). Fortunately, when it was used by the Liberation Army of Nigeria, just as if it was controlled by another force, the only ammunition that was issued and used fell on the pot of soup of the enemy which put the enemy to flight thinking that the Biafra had acquired sophisticated weapons and counter attack was on the way . The Federal troops quickly fled the place, abandoning their food and some weapons. It was a huge victory for the Liberation Army that they were able to capture some weapons and food left behind by the federal troops. This victory was a temporary and short-lived achievement of Ademoyega . There were no further weapons from Ojukwu to consolidate the accidental victory and the little weapons captured from the federal troops were not sufficient to take them anywhere. From then on, things started falling apart.
Ademoyega actually accepted the position reluctantly .He was also a disciple of Banjo. They both hailed from Ogun State and he had absolute trust in Banjo and knew the stuff that Banjo was made of. Banjo was the one that promoted him to Lt Col and brought him to the Liberation Army of Nigeria after he was released by the 18th Battallion under Major Chukwuka when Banjo entered the Mid-West. He was therefore surprised on the allegation made against him, he had worked under Banjo directly and knew him very well. Banjo was never a ‘sell out’.
Ademoyega had learnt a very good lesson from Banjo’s arrest and so when he was visited by the secret spies of Ojukwu, he was careful with them on what he said. Ademoyega must have remembered the Yoruba folk tales where ‘Lion pretended to be sick and sent invitation to other small animals to visit him in the house as their king. This was an orchestrated plan by Lion to have an easy meal without the necessity of hunting . When it was the turn of Fox , he went near the house and observed that he only saw the footprints of those who had gone in, but there were no footprints of coming out of that place . He did not go in and returned to its own house to feign sickness. When Lion did not see him he sent him a message about why he failed to turn up to visit him, the messenger met him on sick bed that he had pretentiously prepared and so he sent a message back that he was sick. He later planned a survival strategy.’ Ademoyega knew Ojukwu very well too and described Ojukwu in his book ‘ Why we Struck’ as both ‘ crafty and selfish ‘ Ademoyega as one of the ring leaders of 15 January 1966 knew it was Ojukwu who frustrated their coup in the North , it was the failure of the coup that brought about the civil war which Ojukwu now played a leading role. He was therefore extremely careful in speaking his mind to anyone.
*Ademoyega Arrest without Trial*
Ademoyega confirmed in his book how difficult it was, for him to work with Ojukwu in that if Banjo, who was Ojukwu’s colleague and friend, found it difficult to work with him, he cannot work with him. So when Ojukwu started putting pressure on him to proceed and fight without weapons , he refused. He knew Ojukwu always put his ‘personal interest above the safety of others’. Disobeying the Order of the commander in chief is a punishable offence, he was arrested also and detained in the same building but not in the same cell where Banjo Ifeajuana and co were detained though not for the same offence. Ademoyega was never tried but detained and had to go many days without food. Such was the suffering of the people detained in Biafra, but Ademoyega survived the war . He lived to write his memoir ‘ Why We Struck’. He used the medium to correct some lies told by people who did not know what happened during the planning of the coup and what took place in the Mid-West and who were actually the planners of the 15.01.1966 coup. Some of his faithful accounts were of great help to me in writing this history. He died in February 2007 at the age of Seventy Four. May his soul continue to rest in peace.
Before I move to the trial of Banjo, it must be borne in mind that Mid-west was just one sector of the Biafran war and not even in the original plan of secession until Banjo stepped in with a revolutionary plan that would have changed the course of the war, were there adequate weapons of war. Banjo believed Ojukwu would provide adequate weapons to prosecute the war, and so were the other commanders in other sectors had faith in Ojukwu that he had stockpiled weapons before the declaration of Biafra
Why did Enugu, Abakaliki, Opi, Calabar, Portharcout Ogoja and all other sectors fall into the hands of the federal troops even after Banjo was removed from the scene. Was it the ghost of Banjo that was haunting them or the reality of war without adequate weapons of war stared them in the face.
Before the secession , the Igbos had the highest numbers of military officers than all the other ethnic groups in Nigeria . Soldiers of war are easy to recruit, whereas officers are not easy to make and so in that regard, Biafra was at advantage than the federal army of Nigeria. The question now is why Biafra fell despite the determined efforts of the innocent Igbos men and women. The Igbo people gave their best support to the new country, one of the best poets in the country then Christopher Okigbo (an Ibo man) later turned Biafran officer was killed in the ambush set up by the Federal troops. Ojukwu lost the war due to a lack of adequate preparation and lack of adequate weapons. The allegation of sabotage and subversion heaped on Col Banjo was a diversionary tactic to conceal the roots of the failure of the commander in chief himself.
*Banjo’s Trial*
Trial was set for Banjo,…..
To be continued
Niyi Aborisade is a lawyer, a Human Rights Activist and a historian.
