By Richard Akinnola
The Defence spokesperson says there was nothing like a coup plot, contrary to the publications of Premium Times and Sahara Reporters. It reminds me of similar media speculations in 1981 and 1986 respectively, which later turned out to be real.
In 1981, it was a coup plot masterminded by a Maiduguri businessman, Bukar Mandara, while the 1986 coup plot was purportedly masterminded by Major-General Mamman Vatsa.
Whether the current one is a hoax or not, I say NEVER AGAIN! We have passed this way before, but no matter our challenges, military government is NEVER an option.
This is the story of MANDARA’S COUP AGAINST SHAGARI.
Barely two years after Alhaji Shehu Shagari assumed office as the first civilian Executive President of Nigeria, a coup was uncovered by the security agencies. It was spearheaded by a Borno State businessman, Alhaji Bukar Zanna Umoru Mandara, who in 1981 enlisted the support of some members of the armed forces to topple the government of Alhaji Shagari. In the process, he planned to kill Alhaji Shagari, the late Chief Obafemi Awolowo, then leader of the defunct Unity Party of Nigeria (UPN); the late Mallam Aminu Kano, then leader of the defunct Peoples Redemption Party (PRP); the late Alhaji Waziri Ibrahim, then leader of the defunct Great Nigeria Peoples Party (GNPP); the late Dr Nnamdi Azikiwe, then leader of the Nigeria Peoples Party (NPP); and all officers in the army above the rank of Lieutenant Colonel.
Alhaji Mandara was arrested on February 6, 1981, by operatives of the defunct National Security Organisation (NSO) and later charged before the Federal High Court, Lagos, on a four-count charge of treason. The charges against him read:
COUNT ONE:
That you, Alhaji Zanna Bukar Umoru Mandara, between March 1, 1981, and January 30 of this year, did form an intention to remove, during his term of office otherwise than by constitutional means, the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria as Head of State and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of the Federation, and manifested such an intention by overt acts, to wit:
Solicited, incited, endeavoured to persuade, and to procure Major Mohammed Yunusu, Sergeant Garba Muga, Sergeant Jonathan Adzande, Sergeant Sani Kasim, Corporal Ibrahim Ango, and Warrant Officer Adamu Attaboh to take part unconstitutionally in the removal of the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces.
Gave four tickets of the Nigeria Airways to Warrant Officer Adamu Attaboh in the names and routes outlined below, so that he could recruit soldiers in other military locations in Nigeria in furtherance of the intention referred to in overt act (i) above:
- Adamu (Lagos–Maiduguri–Lagos)
- U. Audu (Lagos–Maiduguri–Lagos)
- A. Huhu (Lagos–Maiduguri–Lagos)
- A. Abudu (Lagos–Maiduguri–Lagos)
And you thereby committed an offence punishable under Section 41(a) of the Criminal Code (Cap. 42, Laws of the Federation).
COUNT TWO:
That you, Alhaji Zanna, attempted to incite Sergeant Garba Muga, Sergeant Jonathan Adzande, and Corporal Ibrahim Ango from their duties and allegiance to the President, and you thereby committed an offence punishable under Section 44(a) of the Criminal Code (Cap. 42, Laws of the Federation).
COUNT THREE:
That you, Alhaji Zanna, did incite Sergeant Garba Muga, Sergeant Jonathan Adzande, and Corporal Ibrahim Ango to commit an act of mutiny, and you thereby committed an offence under Section 44(b) of the Criminal Code (Cap. 42, Laws of the Federation).
COUNT FOUR:
That you, Alhaji Zanna, attempted to cause disaffection among persons serving as members of the Armed Forces of the Federation—Sergeant Joel Baku Kilba and Warrant Officer Bukar Dunama Lassa—by offering each of them money and a wristwatch, and you thereby committed an offence punishable under Section 46A(i)(a) of the Criminal Code (Cap. 42, Laws of the Federation).
The case was prosecuted by Chief Richard Akinjide, SAN, then Attorney-General of the Federation, while Chief Rotimi Williams, SAN, was the defence counsel to Alhaji Mandara in a trial that was held in camera for security reasons. Ten witnesses, mostly security personnel, testified for the prosecution.
In finding Alhaji Mandara guilty of treason on July 30, 1982, after a four-hour judgment, the late Justice Fred Anyaegbunam, then Chief Judge of the Federal High Court, held that from the evidence before him, the plan was to kill President Shehu Shagari, Alhaji Waziri Ibrahim, Mallam Aminu Kano, Chief Obafemi Awolowo, Dr Nnamdi Azikiwe, and all officers above the rank of Lieutenant Colonel in the army.
If this had succeeded, Justice Anyaegbunam said, the country would have been thrown into a holocaust. He recalled that Mandara told the soldiers he recruited for the coup that the Shagari government was bad; that there was no money; and that he was not getting as many contracts as he used to. According to the judge, Mandara told the soldiers he recruited for the coup that out of the only N20 million contract he got in Abuja, he was asked to give 15 per cent of it to the minister in charge of Abuja, while five per cent went to the ruling National Party of Nigeria (NPN).
Describing Alhaji Mandara as a greedy businessman, the judge wondered how a person who bagged a N20 million contract from the same government could plot against that government. “No words are strong enough to condemn the diabolical activities of the accused. From the evidence before me, the accused is a very rich man who should have thanked his God and enjoyed his wealth with his family. But because of his insatiable lust for money, he still wanted more.”
Justice Anyaegbunam disregarded Chief Williams’ argument that the soldiers who testified against Mandara should be treated as accomplices. The court therefore found him guilty of treason and sentenced him to 15 years’ imprisonment.
Mandara appealed against the conviction at the Court of Appeal on a technical ground that the Federal High Court that tried him had no jurisdiction to do so. The court ruled on November 18, 1983, by a split decision, that the Federal High Court had jurisdiction, thereby affirming the conviction.
Alhaji Mandara then headed for the Supreme Court, which on Friday, April 6, 1984, held that the Federal High Court had no jurisdiction to try him in view of the Supreme Court decision in the case of Bronik Motors and Anor v. Wema Bank Ltd of June 10, 1983, where the court held that by virtue of Section 7(3) of the Federal High Court Act, it had no jurisdiction to try the case. The court therefore ordered that Alhaji Mandara be discharged and acquitted forthwith.
Alhaji Mandara, who was barely literate when he went to prison, was in the Supreme Court on the day of the judgment and had to ask his lawyers what the verdict was, as he had just learned good English in prison.
Alhaji Mandara was incensed with me over this observation in my law column, “Real Life Cases,” in the Vanguard after his acquittal, and he sent me a protest letter denying that he was illiterate.
For full details, check Chapter Six of my book — Fellow Countrymen: The Story of Coup d’États in Nigeria.
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