I needed to save the nation - IBB justifies killing his boyhood friend Vatsa

Former Head of State, General Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida, otherwise called by his initials IBB, has said he was between the devil and the deep blue sea regarding the summary execution of his boyhood friend, Mamman Jiya Vatsa, in 1986.

Babangida and Vatsa were not just childhood friends; the former bested the latter at his wedding. The duo also attended the same educational institution, the Government College Bida, and later enrolled in the Nigerian Army.

However, in March 1986, Babangida signed off on the execution of his long-time friend and nine other top military officers accused of plotting to overthrow his regime.

In his recently launched autobiography, 'A Journey of Service,' the former military ruler recounted the controversial decision to preserve a longstanding personal bond and safeguard the country's future.

He revealed details of the foiled coup by Vatsa, detailing how early warnings about the plans reached him “as a series of rumours.”

IBB maintained that the 10 military officers' execution aligned with the military tradition of planning a bloody coup, which could have plunged Nigeria into darkness.

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The retired General stressed that although Vatsa’s death was a personal loss of a childhood friend, he had to choose between saving a friend’s life and the nation’s future.

“Of course, Vatsa’s death was a personal loss of a childhood friend. As a human being, I was somewhat depressed to watch him die in such circumstances.

“However, the nation’s stability and the cohesion of the armed forces were too high on the scale of priorities to be sacrificed for personal considerations. The law and the imperatives of order and national security are overriding,” IBB said in his book.

“Above all, everyone who had signed to a military career understood clearly what it meant to plan a coup and fail. The penalty was clear and unmistakable.

“Given my closeness to General Vatsa and the political interpretations that emerged after the coup plot after his trial and execution, it is not surprising that agents of subsequent political dispensations tried to weaponise the Vatsa coup as a political tool against us in the post-1999 political ploys. Unfortunately, some members of the Vatsa family lent their voices. These ploys fizzled out in due course,” the former military leader stated.

Babangida shocked by Vatsa's alleged coup

The elder statesman said he initially dismissed rumours of Vatsa's coup against him and his administration as unfounded and concocted by people who were envious of their cordial relationship over the years and did nothing about such tales.

However, he was forced to face reality when the rumours began to manifest into reality.

“I knew, for instance, that many intermediate and senior officers were unhappy that I appointed General Vatsa as Minister of the FCT even though he was not part of the change of government that ousted General Buhari.

Yet, I remained true to our friendship and bent backwards to accommodate his excesses and boisterousness.

“Among some of our colleagues and the public, Vatsa became known as the “Emperor of Abuja” because of his robust boisterousness and love of drama. I admired his passion for poetry and fraternity with the Association of Nigerian Authors.

“Rumours about the impending coup reached me through military intelligence and some officers close to Vatsa. Many were cautionary advice: ‘Sir, be careful with your friend,’ as many informants did not want to be quoted or to come between us as friends.

“With our experience in the few months in government and the benefit of hindsight based on previous rumours, I determined that the best way to tackle the rumours about a possible Vatsa coup was by confronting the principal suspects.

“Therefore, when the decibel of the stories rose too high, I confronted Vatsa himself after reporting the rumours to more senior colleagues like Generals Nasko, Garba Duba and Wushishi. Nasko intervened and tried to find out the truth from Vatsa. Vatsa flatly denied it all, but the covert investigations by the military and other intelligence services continued. Once substantial incontrovertible evidence was established, the arrests began.

“It turned out that Vatsa had paid several officers money to facilitate the coup operation. One of them was Lt-Col. Musa Bitiyong, who was given ¦ 50,000. He admitted it, and Vatsa also admitted the payment but said he wanted to help Bitiyong establish a farm project — the case of Lt-Col. Musa was not helped because he had previously been involved in other controversial coup stories.

“When the coup plot was first uncovered, I did not quite believe the extent of Vatsa’s involvement. Even worse were the details of the dastardly plans, including plans to bomb the Eko Bridge in Lagos and possibly hijack the presidential jet to eliminate the President. As the details kept coming in, it became harder not to believe the integrity of the disclosures. I felt a deep personal sense of betrayal.

“There were details of conversations, funding, travel itinerary and recruitment of troops to support the operation. Each time I had to be briefed on aspects of the coup plot, I insisted on having a senior officer with integrity present as a witness. I invited Garba Duba to listen in on one occasion as the investigating team briefed me. When I shrugged in disbelief, the briefing officer then revealed that Vatsa had even tried to escape through the wall air conditioner hole in his detention room but was stopped by vigilant guards. I had reasons to be shocked at Vatsa’s role, but I was not surprised. We were very close friends. We had grown up together in Minna and had been classmates in Bida. We did several things together as peers. My wife recalled that we used to share a room as bachelors. We would reach out for whatever shirt was available, irrespective of who it was, and just wear it and head out! We were that close.

“With the benefit of hindsight now, I recall that a constant part of our relationship as teenagers and young men was a continuous and recurrent peer jealousy on his part towards me. He was always envious of my achievements, especially when he thought I was progressing better than him, either in school or our military career path. For instance, when I became Head Boy at Bida Secondary School, Vatsa often made it a duty to put obstacles in my way as a leader."