Former Head of State, Gen. Yakubu Gowon (retd.), has disclosed how a trusted security aide he personally appointed later became part of the July 1975 coup that removed him from power.
Gowon made the revelation in his autobiography, My Life of Duty and Allegiance, launched in Abuja on Tuesday.
According to the former Nigerian leader, intelligence reports before his trip to Kampala, Uganda, had linked Joseph Garba, then Commander of the Federal Guards Unit, and Anthony Ochefu, Provost Marshal of the Nigerian Military Police, to a planned coup.
He said his Chief Security Officer, M.D. Yusuf, warned him about the alleged plot, but instead of taking immediate action, he confronted Garba directly.
Gowon stated that Garba denied involvement and swore he had no knowledge of any move to topple the government.
The former Head of State described the development as a painful betrayal, noting that Garba was among the officers he trusted most and had personally appointed to oversee his security.
He added that his suspicion deepened after Ochefu allegedly refused to return to Lagos, but he postponed further action until after the Organisation of African Unity summit in Uganda.
Gowon recalled that while attending the summit on July 29, 1975, former Ugandan leader, Idi Amin, handed him a Reuters report announcing that his government had been overthrown.
According to him, early reports referred to the officer who announced the coup as “Colonel Darwa,” which he later suspected was a mistaken reference to Garba.
Despite the reports, Gowon said he initially struggled to believe that Garba could betray him, suggesting the officer may have been pressured into joining the coup plot.
Gowon ruled Nigeria from 1966 until he was removed from office in 1975.
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