The Apex group of Igbos has expressed concern about the revelation of the truth hidden for 59 years, that made by President Gen. Ibrahim Babangida in his book which he recently launched. In his book termed “A Journey In Service” he has revealed some certain truth that kept Nigeria dis-unit for the past 59 years.
He said the reason for the coup was to release Awolowo from the Prison and make him become president. It was also noted that it was an Igbo man Major John Obienu, an Igbo officer, who played a key role in quelling the coup, revealing that many senior Igbo officers were also tragically killed during the uprising.
“It is noted from his book that the original intention of the coup plotters was anything but ethnic refer to the fact that the initial purpose of the plotters was to release Chief Obafemi Awolowo ‘from prison immediately after the coup and make him the executive provisional President of Nigeria.”
Following the revelation by former military President Gen. Ibrahim Babangida during the launch of his book “A Journey in Service” that the 1966 coup was not an Igbo coup as alleged, the Igbo apex group, Ohanaeze Ndigbo, on Sunday demanded an apology and N10 trillion as compensation from President Bola Tinubu to the Igbo.
The group noted that the coup unleashed disastrous repercussions on the Igbo people, among other factors, which ultimately led to the cataclysmic horrors of the Biafra War.
In a statement obtained by The Guardian in Abakaliki, the Deputy National President of the Ohanaeze faction, Okechukwu Isiguzoro, noted that the apology and compensation had become necessary due to the staggering loss of life, with approximately three million Igbo—predominantly innocent women and children—slaughtered during the conflict, an event that continues to reverberate through the collective consciousness of the Igbo people.
However, the Ohaneze Ndi Igbo has call for compensation to the Igbos and made a repartition of Ten Trillion Naira as a compensation for the Igbos. In this suit it was mentioned the president and the Nigeria Government which most common that the president had been sued been the representee of the entire Nigeria.
