5 NIGERIAN CONSPIRACY THEORIES ON ASSASSINATION OF TOP ARMY OFFICERS
Pic: Nigerian Army on Training
Nigerian
conspiracy
theories’
involving
unsolved
murders of top Army officers in Nigeria was viewed to be so entangled by those who believe in such theories. Of all these Nigerian conspiracy theories, there are some whose line of reasons still begs for answers as they are riddled with conspiracies that span so deep and hard to dismiss even by the most skeptic minds as the theorists based their opinion on the principles that; nothing happens by accident, nothing is as it seems, and everything is connected.
Nigerian conspiracy theories in
this entry is about
unsolved murders of high profile officers in Nigerian army
which
makes
the
cases
more
important
to
be
resolved before they are laid to rest but the cynics and
conspiracy
assassination resolved
theorist of
due
top
to
claimed
military
the
spiral
these brass web
of
high may
profile
never
be
conspiracies
involved. “A conspiracy theory is an explanation of an event or situation
that
invokes
a
conspiracy—generally
one
involving an illegal or harmful act supposedly carried out
by
government
or
other
powerful
actors—without
credible evidence.” Wikipedia Just like other Nigerian conspiracy theories out there, there is no factual evidence to support any of these claims of the assassination being politically motivated or
otherwise
but
still,
the
entries
on
this
list
are worth checking and you can decide for yourself if they mean anything other than conspiracy theories. Assassination of Gen. Murtala Muhammed by Col. Buka Dimka and his men Friday 13 February 1976, was a dark day in the history of Nigeria as a sovereign state. Nigeria witnessed the murder of the president, Gen. Murtala Muhamed whose death is to become one of the most talked about among
Nigerian conspiracy theories in decades. Gen. Murtala Muhammed along with his aide was assassinated on his way
to
work
through
George
Street,
Lagos
in
his
Mercedes Benz at 8.00am. The
conspiracy
theorist
claimed
that
Gen.
Murtala’s
death has political undertone of the Western powers. It was speculated that Gen. Murtala made several enemies as he was becoming too tough for the liking of the Western powers especially Americans during mid-70. First, he rejected the OPEC pricing guidelines which he believed
put
position.
Then,
African
countries
perhaps
what
at
disadvantaged
actually
triggers
his
assassination, according to the conspiracy theorists, was
the
support
decision for
he
Popular
made
when
Movement
he
for
pledge the
Nigeria’s
Liberation
of
Angola as against the nation’s neutral stand in early 70’s. This
cause
States
and
a
strained
Nigeria
relationship
which
the
between
conspiracy
United theorist
claimed was the reason CIA hired Col. Buka Dimka and his
men
to
do
their
dirty
work
such
that
CIA
can
maintain plausible deniability and blamed it on foiled coup. Killing
of
General
Community in Jos
Alkali
by
Youths
of
Daura-Du
General Alkali’s death also featured in the list of Nigerian conspiracy theories. General Alkali was a high profile officer in Nigerian army
having
served
bravely
for
35
years
in
several
capacities until his retirement in August 7, 2018; a former
chief
of
Administration
and
Acting
General
Officer Commanding 7 Division and many more. Gen. Alkali however get caught and died in the protest by
the
youth
residents
of
Daura-Du
district
in
Jos
South Local Government, Plateau State in Nigeria. At least, this is the official story corroborated by the Nigerian
Army
but
the
conspiracy
theorist
claimed
otherwise. Perhaps the fact that, Gen. Alkali was traveling with huge cash was the logic that fuel conspiracy theories. On the day General Alkali died, he was believed to be carrying sum of 3 million naira in his car with which the
military
claimed
he
intended
to
pay
his
farm
workers or was he going to pay the unknown gunmen that killed people of Daura-Du community earlier? The
protest
staged
by
the
Daura-Du
youth
was
in
response to the innocent killing of 21 members of the community night.
overnight
by
unknown
gunmen
the
previous
One of the Nigerian conspiracy theories claimed the general
couldn’t
have
been
carrying
such
huge
cash
about only to pay his staffs since his bank can do that faster and effectively except he was going to pay the unknown gun men for their service or broker a similar deal.
This
sound
stupidly
unconvincing
enough,
but
ain’t all conspiracy theories? Assassination
of
Air
Chief
Marshal
Alex
Badeh
By
Unknown Gunmen in Abuja The most fresh of all the Nigerian conspiracy theories involving the death of top army officers was the one on the
recent
assassination
Sabundu Badeh
of
Air
Chief
while returning from his
Marshal
Alex
farm on 18th
December 2018. Perhaps what makes this conspiracy theory more popular was the involvement of the Ex. Chief of Defense Staff in financial scandal while still in the service. One of the leading conspiracy theorist in this stance was
self-exiled
leader
of
the
proscribed
Indigenous
People of Biafra, Nnamdi Kanu who claimed late Alex Bade was killed by the Wife of the president, Mrs. Aisha Buhari and the president’s Chief of Staff, Mr. Kyari.
Nnamdi Kanu opined that the threats made by the Ex. Chief of Defense Staff to both wife of the president and the president’s Chief of Staff after he, Badeh, was refuse any assistance as regarding his corruption cases pending in court was the reason he was assassinated. Other high profile personality who shares similar view was the Ex. Nigerian Minister of Aviation, Mr. Femi Fani
Kayode
who
said
the
killing
was
just
too
convenient. Fani Kayode believed the offence committed to those who killed Alex Bade was his threats to reveal alleged Buhari’s administration involvement in the Boko Haram insurgency activities in Nigeria. Killing of Lt. Col. Abu Ali by Boko Haram Insurgents at Mallam Fatori Lt.
Col.
Nigeria
Abu has
Ali ever
was
probably
seen
in
the
her long
finest war
soldier against
insurgence. He was specially promoted for recognition of his gallantry in the fight against Boko Haram in 2014 and despite his commitment to help get rid of the appalling
insurgence,
he
and
six
of
his
men
were
ambushed and killed by the Boko Haram insurgents at Mallam Fatori on November 4, 2016. The death of Lt. Col. Abu Ali and his men spark of one of the toughest Nigerian conspiracy theories due to suspicious conditions surrounding his death.
The conspiracy theorist claimed the death of Lt. Col Abu Ali and his men confirmed their suspicion about the complicity
of
top
army
officers
in
sustaining
Boko
Haram at the behest of unsuspecting Nigerians and that the force public relation department has deliberately continue to feed false information to the public about the
state
of
things
concerning
the
insurgency
activities in Nigeria. Earlier, the mercenaries and Chadian troops who fought alongside men of Nigerian army during the regime of President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan were withdrawn as the new
government
terminates
their
contract.
The
controversy however was why the sudden withdrawal of the mercenaries when the army was just gaining upper hands on the insurgents? Lt. Col Abu Ali was ordered by his superior officers to reinforce the troops at Mallam Fatori who are under attacked by the Boko Haram insurgents. On that fateful Friday
morning,
available
Intel
from
the
military
revealed that one officer and 49 soldiers were ordered to
withdraw
and
reassigned
to
another
mission
undisclosed. Boko Harams strike on that very night, an indication that the insurgent seems to have this Intel first hand. Why were the soldiers withdrawn on that fateful day? Could it be a plan to kill Col. Abu Ali who seems to be getting ahead in this fight at the
expense of his corrupt superior officers who are making fortune in this war? These questions formed the basis of Nigerian conspiracy theories surrounding his death. Air Force Dornier 228 aircraft en-route to Cross River crashed and kill 12 army generals in 2006 Occurrence of military air disasters over the past two decades
has
often
been
a
major
part
of
Nigerian
conspiracy theories. One of the weirdest of such air disaster was the plane crash that killed 163 military personnel in 1992 which practically wiped out entire generation of army officers in Nigeria at that time. In 2006, President Olusegun Obasanjo, an ex. Military head of state and a man from Yoruba land, was at the IMF meeting in Singapore when Nigeria military plane carrying top military officers crashed killing 8 majorgenerals, two brigadier-generals, one Lt. Colonel and a pilot. The conspiracy theorists question the timing of this plane
crash.
Nigerian
unity
at
this
time
was
under
strain with various ethnic groups constantly suspecting each other for plan to marginalize or sabotage. This situation make the military the only truly national institution and hence the suspicion, according to the conspiracy theorists, that the military might plot a coup.
They
speculate
that
Ex.
President
Olusegun
Obasanjo
have special Intel, being an ex. military general, on the plan of these military officers, who were in the top
echelons
of
the
Nigerian
army,
to
topple
his
government, therefore he order their death through the only means that would never link back to him while he was away in Singapore. Source: Listngist Article