– Vice Admiral Muftau Adegoke Babatunde Elegbede was murdered in cold blood in 1994
– He was assassinated with 70 bullet released on him along the Gbagada/Onwonshoki expressway
– But the puzzle is that from 1994 to date, nobody has been convicted to have been responsible for the murder of Admiral Elegbede
To kill a man is one thing. To have him shot brutally with nothing less than 70 automatic rifles, in front of his wife is entirely another thing. Such was the case of Vice-Admiral Muftau Adegoke Babatunde Elegbede who was murdered in cold blood along the Gbagada/Oworonshoki expressway in Lagos on June 19, 1994.
Born in 1939 in Ibadan, Elegbede served in the Nigerian navy, after his early education in Western Nigeria, eventually rising to the post of Vice Admiral. He was appointed military governor of Cross River state between 28 July 1978 and 30 September 1979, during the military regime of General Olusegun Obasanjo after which he handed over to the civilian Governor Clement Isong at the start of the second republic. It was during his tenure that the Maritime Academy of Nigeria was established at Oron, now in Akwa Ibom state.
He was also the chairman of the Kaduna zone military tribunal set up during the military regime of General Muhammadu Buhari in 1986, to try public officers from the previous civilian regime of the second republic who had been accused of embezzling public funds.
In 1979, he headed a scholarship programme from which thousands of beneficiaries emerged, and as the first Nigerian hydrographer, he took part in some sessions of the very lengthy United Nations Conference which came up with the convention on the Law of the Sea.
Vice Admiral Muftau Adegoke Babatunde Elegbede who was assassinated in 1994
In September 1985, Commodore Elegbede was flag officer commanding, sea training command, and later became the chief of Nigeria’s Defense Intelligence Agency, holding that office from July 1986 to January 1990 after which he was succeeded by Lieutenant Colonel Haliru.
READ ALSO: Federal government to ask court to revoke Nnamdi Kanu’s bail
He was also head of administration in defense headquarters under General Ibrahim Babangida and a member of Babangida’s armed forces ruling council from 1983 to 1993. He was appointed chief of naval staff in 1993 when General Sanni Abacha was the chief of defense staff and died in that position.
Having served in such enviable positions and capacities to different military administrations, one would have expected a more honourable death for such a man but that was not to be. On 19 June 1994, which was expected to be a sunny and joyful Sunday for the 55-year-old Vice Admiral and his wife, he was assassinated by gunmen along the Gbagada/Owonshoki expressway in Lagos.
Elegbede’s Mercedes Benz V-Boot was attacked by assassins, and he was hit by more than 70 automatic rifle bullets in the presence of his wife, a traumatic way to start a week. And so, the life of the first Nigerian hydrographer in the Navy was brutally terminated in the presence of his wife.
In July 2001, three of the seven suspected assassins were formally charged. Jamiu Famuyiwa, Kazeem Akangbe and Bode Arabamibi Chuks were formally arraigned before an Ikeja High Court. However, as of September 2009, nobody had been convicted of the murder, leading people to assume and come up with lots of theories as to what might have been the motive behind the cold-blooded murder.
One of such theories suggest that his rough end is as a result of the prayers of widows of 200 passengers, including top military officers who died in a Nigerian Air Force C-130 transport plane which crashed in Ejigbo near Lagos. It was alleged that Vice-Admiral Elegbede who coordinated the government-sponsored memorial service organised in Abuja, had pocketed the money instead of spending it on the widows.
Vice Admiral Elegbede was chief of naval staff during the administration of military president Ibrahim Babangida
According to Femi Aribisala on Vanguard, instead of being housed in hotels in Abuja, they were dumped en masse and made to spend the night in an airport hangar. While they spent the no doubt uncomfortable night there, it was alleged that they cursed Admiral Elegbede with one voice and prayed that he should come to a bad end.
READ ALSO: Fuel hike: Nigerians flay Senate’s recommendation
But it is on record that Nigerian government has very been very lethargic in handling hire murder cases in the country. No hire murder case in Nigeria has ever been investigated and culprits brought to justice. Government would always make pronouncements of bringing the culprits to book, but most have actually ended in the pronouncements.
Nigeriaworld listed series of murder cases that the Nigerian government has failed to investigate thoroughly and bring culprits to book. In October 1986, Nigerians were greeted with the shock of Dele Giwa’s letter bomb attack on that fateful Sunday. Dele Giwa, Editor-in Chief of Newswatch Magazine was killed by a letter bomb alleged to have carried Nigeria coat of arm.
Shortly before the time, he had received a call to confirm if he was at home. Few minutes, a dispatcher brought a parcel, Dele Giwa seemed to have been expecting it, and he asked them to bring it in to him immediately. While chatting with his colleague, Kayode Soyinka and trying to open the envelope, the bomb exploded and that was the end.
In 1990, Colonel Odeleke, husband of Bishop Bola Odeleke died mysteriously in Abuja. According to official report, a hit and run car knocked him down, but the family was not allowed to carry out a postmortem to ascertain the cause of his death. Military sources disclosed that Odeleke had been lured with juicy political appointments but he preferred to be a professional and never cease to condemn the incursion of the military in politics at every opportunity he had.
This, according to sources, may have been his undoing. Curiously he was reportedly knocked down by car, same day he was prepared for burial, dressed even before his wife and other members of the family could see him. They were not allowed access to his body.
Men of the Nigerian Navy
Colonel Dan Archibong, then military governor of Cross River state was said to have died in a ghastly motor accident. He was returning to his state after a meeting with Ibrahim Babangida, the then military dictator at Dodan Barracks, Lagos. It is alleged that the accident was a make-up to cover up a state master-minded murder to silence Archibong because of what he was believed to know about the death of Dele Giwa.
Another Naval Officer, Omotehinwa, was unlucky to have been associated with Lt. Gen. Alani Akinrinade that he paid with his dear life. Alani Akinrinade was among those who formed the National Democratic Coalition (NADECO) to fight the tyrannical government of Sani Abacha. But he paid dearly for it.
PAY ATTENTION: install our latest app for Android, read best news on Nigeria’s #1 news app
From 1999 to date numerous murder cases have been reported and the police and the entire security apparatus in Nigeria have resolved no one. What could be responsible? Sources and evidence reveal that the police and other security agencies have compromised and filled with people who are offering lip service to Nigerians.
From 2000 to date, Nigeria has had many religious-motivated demonstrations where many lives were lost. Riots have been erupting in the Northern states where multitude of people are being killed but nobody is being brought to book. The Nigerian government has not actually given much attention to the safety of its citizens.
Watch this ZENITHBLOG.com video, hear the arguments and see whether the Nigeria police are actually friends of Nigerian citizens
‘);
});
}(window, document);
0naze
No comments:
Post a Comment